It was so much waste of words. Mr. Strange went without further parley into the intricacies of the Maze, calling to the policeman to follow him, and bidding the other--who was a local policeman also in plain clothes: both of them from Basham--remain near the gate and guard it against anybody's attempted egress. All this while the gate had been open. Ann Hopley locked it with trembling fingers, and then followed the men through the maze, shrieking out words of remonstrance at the top of her voice. Had there been ten felons concealed within, she made enough noise to warn them all. "For goodness sake, woman, don't make that uproar!" cried the detective. "We are not going to murder you." The terrified face of Mrs. Grey appeared at her chamber window. Old Hopley was gazing through the chink of the door of the tool-house, which he was about to clean out. The detective heeded nothing. He went straight to the house door and entered it. "Wait here at the open door, and keep a sharp look round inside and out," were his orders to the policeman. "If I want you, I'll call." But Ann Hopley darted before Mr. Strange to impede his progress--she was greatly agitated--and seized hold of his arm. "Don't go in," she cried imploringly; "don't go in, for the love of heaven! My poor mistress is but just out of her confinement and the fever that followed it, and the fright will be enough to kill her. I declare to you that what I have said is true. There's nobody on these premises but those I've named: my mistress and us two servants, me and Hopley. It _can't_ be one of us you want!" "My good woman, I have said that it is not. But, if it be as you say--that there's no one else, no one concealed here--why object to my searching?" "For her sake," reiterated the agitated woman; "for the poor lady's sake." "I must search: understand that," said Mr. Strange. "Better let me do it quietly." As if becoming impressed with this fact, and that it was useless to contend further, Ann Hopley suddenly took her hands off the detective, leaving him at liberty to go where he would. Passing through the kitchen, she began to attend to her saucepan of potatoes. Armed with his full power, both of law and of will, Mr. Strange began his search. The warrant had not been obtained from Sir Karl Andinnian, but from a magistrate at Basham: it might be that he did not feel sufficiently assured of Sir Karl's good faith: therefore the Maze was not averted beforehand.