Mine was quite a simple proposal, though not devoid of risk, yet the plan could not well be carried out without his help. Briefly, I was determined to force an entrance to the house in Belgrave Street on the following night, and the way I had decided to get in was through the dark cellar-passage which opened on to Crane's Alley. During the afternoon I had visited the Alley, and examined the lock of the gate at the end of the iron railings which topped the wall of the little yard, also the lock of the small door that led into the black cellar-passage which ultimately led into the house. Both, I saw, could easily be forced. Indeed, there would be no need to force the lock of the iron gate. I could climb over the gate, as I had done that day. All this I told the constable, and he calmly nodded. "And you want me to abet you in this crime," he said at last, with a grin, as he loaded his pipe anew. "I do," I said. "And--I'll make it worth your while." "Well, it's house-breaking, you know," he observed drily, filling the room with clouds of smoke. "And you know what the sentence for breaking into a house at night is?" "Never mind about the sentence," I answered quickly. "I shall have to serve that--and not you! But there won't be any sentence, because there won't be any capture--if you help me. And you are going to help me. Oh, yes, you are." We both laughed. "You are a one, sir--an' no mistake!" he exclaimed. "Well, yes, I'll do me best and charnce it. I'm a bit of a sport meself when they gives me arf a charnce." And so it was settled. It was this policeman's duty to keep an eye on Crane's Alley, which was included in his beat. Well, he would for once forget to keep an eye on it, while the sergeant was out of the way. More, he would lend a hand when the time came to force the lock of the door in the little yard. After that he would be at liberty to slip back to Belgrave Street and resume his monotonous tramp. And all this would happen on the following night, or rather, about two o'clock next morning. When I left him it was nine o'clock, and, feeling in high spirits, I drove to the _Grand_ to tell Vera my plan, for I felt I must tell somebody. She was alone in the private sitting-room overlooking the thousand lights of Trafalgar Square, and I sat with my arm about her.