The fog had lessened considerably while they walked. A watery moon made itself dimly perceptible. Labar stole a glance at the girl's firm moulded chin and resolute grey eyes. "I am glad I came when I did," he said. "I am afraid that you would have found the nerve." They walked steadily on ever and again having to divert their course on meeting one of the numerous dykes. And while they walked he questioned her, and made mental notes. For Penelope had much to tell. During her sojourn as a prisoner she had used both her eyes and her ears, and where she had been unable to draw conclusions the detective was able to make something in the nature of guesses. He believed that he was on the verge of a discovery that would simplify, if not the question of Larry's capture, at least the difficulty of establishing his complicity in the Gertstein robbery. The early dawn broke on a weary couple, but almost as the sun rose they struck a track which followed for a mile or two brought them to a made road. A little later they met an early rising shepherd, who, though he eyed with curiosity the shirt-sleeved and dirty man who was escorting a pretty girl, gave them directions that would carry them back to Rye. That picturesque town was beginning to stir as they passed through the Ypres Tower almost to the minute twenty-four hours after Labar had left it. CHAPTER XXIV Labar's first business was to interview the wife of his temporary landlord, the retired constable. Into her hands he confided Penelope, with instructions that the girl was to be fed and then allowed to rest. "And what are you going to do?" cried the girl. He grinned. "Have a bath and a shave and put on some decent clothes." "And then?" He pressed her hand. "Then I have to attend to Mr. Larry Hughes. I am a lazy man. If I don't get on with the business while it's in front of me I'm apt not to do it at all." Her eyes clouded, and she clung to his hand as though reluctant to let him go. "But surely you are going to have a rest, too? Can't you leave this to someone else? You have some of your men down here?" Labar disengaged himself. "There is nothing at all to worry about, my dear. I shall take good care of myself now, I assure you. There will be no more danger than if I was engaged on a rat hunt." "Trapped rats sometimes bite." "I propose to do all the biting this time," he laughed. "Be a good child, and I'll promise to keep well out of any trouble. If they start shooting, I'll hide behind Malone. He's big enough."