"Mind?" said the laird gallantly. "Not me! But I'm wondering what you are driving at." She only smiled, but from her merry eye he felt sure that some very brilliant jest was afoot, and he joked away pleasantly as they returned to the house. "Now," she said, "do you mind waiting in the smoking-room for ten minutes or so?" She went out, and Mr Craigie waited, mystified but happy. He waited for ten minutes; he waited for twenty, he waited for half an hour, and still there was no sign of the fascinating Miss Holland. And then he sent a servant to look for her. Her report gave Mr Craigie the strongest sensation that had stirred that good-natured humourist for many a day. Miss Holland was not in her room, and no more, apparently, were her belongings. The toilette table was stripped, the wardrobe was empty; in fact, the only sign of her was her trunk, strapped and locked. Moving with exceptional velocity, Mr Craigie made straight for the lane beyond the garden. The brown suit-case had disappeared. "Well, I'm jiggered!" murmured the baffled humourist. Very slowly and soberly he returned to the house, lit a fresh pipe, and steadied his nerves with a glass of grog. When Mrs Craigie returned, she found him sufficiently revived to jest again, though in a minor key. "To think of the girl having the impudence to make me carry her luggage out of the house for her!" said he. "Gad, but it was a clever dodge to get clear with no one suspecting her! Well, anyhow, my reputation is safe again at last, Selina." "Your reputation!" replied Mrs Craigie in a withering voice. "For what? Not for common-sense anyhow!" "You're flustered, my dear," said the laird easily. "It's a habit women get into terrible easy. You should learn a lesson from Miss Eileen Holland. Dashed if I ever met a cooler hand in my life!" "And what do you mean to do about it?" demanded his wife. "Do?" asked Mr Craigie, mildly surprised. "Well, we might leave the pantry window open at night, so that she can get in again if she's wanting to; or----" "It's your duty to inform the authorities, Richard!" "Duty?" repeated the laird, still more surprised. "Fancy me starting to do my duty at my time of life!" "Anyhow," cried Mrs Craigie, "we've still got her trunk!" "Ah," said Mr Craigie, happily at last, "so we have! Well, that's all right then." And with a benign expression the philosopher contentedly lit another pipe. PART III. LIEUTENANT VON BELKE'S NARRATIVE RESUMED I. THE MEETING.