"Have you ever seen one of these?" she inquired, pointing at it. "It is my brother's own invention, and he is thinking of patenting it. When this button is pressed (there's one of the machines in each room), every door leading out of the house, and every window (they are all of plate glass) by which it would be possible to escape, is simultaneously and automatically locked; a burglar alarm is set ringing in the kitchen, in the hall, and in all the men-servants' rooms, as well as in the stables; and by a particularly ingenious arrangement, of which my brother is especially proud, communication is also established with the nearest police station. Once inside the house, no thief, or burglar, if this button is pressed and the machinery is set going, can hope to escape, for he is as neatly trapped as any rat. "Well, young man (I haven't been told your name), since it has leaked out that my brother is a millionaire and a philanthropist, every known dodge in the begging-letter line and in the blackmailing line has been tried on us; but, for sheer brazenry, I must say that your tale beats all. My niece believes in you--more fool she!--but I'll tell you what I think: every word that you have told us--except, perhaps, the fact of my brother having been kidnapped by this man you call the Dumpling--is an entire concoction; and if he really has been kidnapped as you say, why, you are clearly the kidnapper's accomplice, and have come here to sound us, and to pave the way for the abominable blackmailing which you call holding to ransom. If any further proof of your confederacy with the blackmailer is needed, that proof is supplied by the facts which my niece has just made known to me. She tells me that only yesterday morning, when she and I were at my brother's country house, she found that someone had rowed out to the centre of the lake in our boat, and, supposing it was I who was in the boat and that I had fallen asleep, she swam out and found you in it. You were there, of course, in your capacity of spy and shadower to your employer, and in order to acquaint yourself with my brother's movements. It's a pity she didn't leave you to be drowned--not that you'll be that, for I clearly foresee another fate in store for you, and a less pleasant one. And now, if you please, I propose sending for the police. I wonder if they'll believe your story." "No," I said smilingly, "they won't. I can tell you that before you send, if it will be saving you any trouble." "Ho! ho!" she said, triumphantly. "So you admit that I'm one too many for you. You're not such a fool as I thought. Anyhow, you're 'cute enough to know when you're dealing with a clever woman. It's wise of you. If you had persisted in brazening me out with that preposterous tale, you'd have been clapped between four walls this very night. I mean what I say. But I'm not a hard-hearted woman, and, by the look of you, you ought to be a cut above being the accomplice of criminals and blackmailers."