Mr. Jack Rogers’s tilbury had run past the house and come to a halt a short gunshot beyond, where it stood driverless—­for Mr. Jack Rogers had dismounted, and was gesticulating with both arms to stop a man racing down the road to meet him.  A moment later, as this runner came on, a second hove in sight over the rise of the road behind him—­a short figure, so stout and round that in the distance it resembled not so much a man as a ball rolling in pursuit.

“Hi!  Stop, you there!” shouted Mr. Rogers; but the first runner might have been deaf, for all the attention he paid.

“Good Lord!” said I, catching my breath; “it’s Mr. George Goodfellow!”

“In the King’s name!” Mr. Rogers shouted, making a dash to intercept him.  And a moment later the two had collided, and were rolling in the dust together.

I ran towards them, with Plinny—­brave soul!—­at my heels, and arrived to find Mr. Rogers, hatless and exceedingly dishevelled, kneeling with both hands around the neck of his prostrate antagonist, and holding his face down in the dust.

“You’d best stand up and come along quietly,” Mr. Rogers adjured him.

“Gug-gug—­how the devil c-can I stand up if you won’t lul-lul-let me?” protested Mr. Goodfellow, reasonably enough.

“Very well, then.”  Mr. Rogers relaxed his grip.  “Stand up!  But you’re my prisoner, so let’s have no more nonsense!”

“I’d like to know what’s taken ye to pitch into a man like this?” demanded Mr. Goodfellow in a tone of great umbrage, as he shook the dust out of his coat and hair.  “A fellow I never seen before, not to my knowledge!  Why—­hallo!” said he, looking up and catching sight of me.

“Hallo!” said I.

“Hallo!” said Mr. Rogers, in his turn.  “Do you two know each other?”

“Why, of course we do!” said Mr. Goodfellow.

“I don’t know where ‘of course’ comes in.”  Mr. Rogers eyed him with stern suspicion.  “Why were you running away from the constable?”

Mr. Goodfellow glanced towards the stout, round man, who by this time had drawn near, mopping, as he came, a face as red as the red waistcoat he wore.

“Him a constable?  Why, I took him for a loonatic!  They put the loonatics into them coloured weskits, don’t they?”

“Nothing of the sort.  You’re thinking of the warders,” Mr. Rogers answered.

“Oh?  Then I made a mistake,” said Mr. Goodfellow, cheerfully.

“Look here, my friend, if you’re thinking to play this off as a joke you’ll find it no joking matter.  Madam”—­he turned to Miss Plinlimmon—­“is this the man who called at the cottage two days ago.”

“Yes,” answered Plinny; “and once before, as I remember.”

“And on each occasion did you observe something strange in his manner?”

“Very strange indeed.  He kept asking questions about the house and garden, and the position of the rooms and about poor Major Brooks, and what rent he paid, and if he was well-to-do.  And he took out a measure from his pocket and began to calculate—­”