"Who is Miss Jewin?" "Hest's housekeeper at Gerby----" "What!" Both men uttered the ejaculation simultaneously and looked at one another. Then ensued a silence, while the fog closed in thicker and darker, and only the weeping of Maunders could be heard. Suddenly from the hall came the sound of the door opening, and then a firm footstep. Maunders gave a wild cry and clung vehemently to Vernon's legs. "It's Hest! It's Hest! He'll kill me for telling." "Then Hest is The----" "Yes! Yes! He's The Spider and----" The door was flung open as the footsteps paused, and Francis Hest, wrapped in a heavy overcoat, stood on the threshold smiling. Maunders beat the ground with his hands and crawled to the newcomer's feet. "I couldn't help it; I couldn't help it. I had to tell you were----" "The Spider," cried Vernon, whipping out his revolver. "I arrest you in----" He got no further. At the words of Maunders the villain's face had changed with the rapidity of lightning from smiles to desperate anger. He cast a furious look on his accomplice then suddenly lowered his head so as to get under the line of fire. The next moment Vernon felt Hest charge him head downward in the stomach. The revolver shot harmlessly to the roof, while the young man, taken by surprise, was dashed against the Colonel. Both men fell in a confused heap. "Follow! Follow, you devil!" cried Hest kicking Maunders, still on his knees, and then he rushed out of the door. Maunders leaped up to race for his liberty and closed the door behind him. When the Colonel and Vernon got on their feet again they rushed into the hall to find it empty. The front door had crashed to with a noise like thunder, and they heard it being locked on the outside, to the accompaniment of a triumphal laugh. "We've lost them," cried Vernon, tugging vainly at the door. "They'll get away easily in the fog." CHAPTER XVI. THE SEARCH. While Vernon desperately tried to wrench open the front door Towton, with the quick foresight of an old soldier, ran back into the drawing-room and lifted the window sash. In less than two minutes he was outside and hastened to release his companion. Luckily, in his hurry Hest had been unable to extract the key from the lock, so a swift turn of the wrist soon removed the barrier. Vernon and the Colonel set off hot-footed in pursuit of the fugitives, and as they plunged into the fog caught a glimpse of Gail and his wife hurrying into the hall with scared faces, doubtless attracted by the ominous sound of the pistol-shot. But there was no time to explain as every moment was of value, and the two men put their hearts into the chase.