As he spoke two men came down the garden path, from round the angle of the house. The one was an elderly man, with a strong, deep-lined, heavy-eyed face; the other a dashing young fellow, whose bright, smiling expression and showy dress were in strange contrast with the business which had brought us there. "Still at it, then?" said he to Holmes. "I thought you Londoners were never at fault. You don't seem to be so very quick, after all." "Ah! you must give us a little time," said Holmes, good-humouredly. "You'll want it," said young Alec Cunningham. "Why, I don't see that we have any clue at all." "There's only one," answered the Inspector. "We thought that if we could only find----Good heavens! Mr. Holmes, what is the matter?" My poor friend's face had suddenly assumed the most dreadful expression. His eyes rolled upwards, his features writhed in agony, and with a suppressed groan he dropped on his face upon the ground. Horrified at the suddenness and severity of the attack, we carried him into the kitchen, where he lay back in a large chair and breathed heavily for some minutes. Finally, with a shame-faced apology for his weakness, he rose once more. "Watson would tell you that I have only just recovered from a severe illness," he explained. "I am liable to these sudden nervous attacks." "Shall I send you home in my trap?" asked old Cunningham. "Well, since I am here, there is one point on which I should like to feel sure. We can very easily verify it." "What is it?" "Well, it seems to me that it is just possible that the arrival of this poor fellow William was not before but after the entrance of the burglar into the house. You appear to take it for granted that although the door was forced the robber never got in." [Illustration: "GOOD HEAVENS! WHAT IS THE MATTER?"] "I fancy that is quite obvious," said Mr. Cunningham, gravely. "Why, my son Alec had not yet gone to bed, and he would certainly have heard anyone moving about." "Where was he sitting?" "I was sitting smoking in my dressing-room." "Which window is that?" "The last on the left, next my father's." "Both your lamps were lit, of course?" "Undoubtedly." "There are some very singular points here," said Holmes, smiling. "Is it not extraordinary that a burglar--and a burglar who had had some previous experience--should deliberately break into a house at a time when he could see from the lights that two of the family were still afoot?" "He must have been a cool hand." "Well, of course, if the case were not an odd one we should not have been driven to ask you for an explanation," said Mister Alec. "But as to your idea that the man had robbed the house before William tackled him, I think it a most absurd notion. Shouldn't we have found the place disarranged and missed the things which he had taken?"