Miss Coleman cogitated.

’Now you mention it there did,—­though I should have forgotten all about it if you hadn’t asked me,—­that comes of your not letting me tell the tale in my own way.  About twenty minutes after the young woman had gone in someone put up the blind in the front room, which that young man had dragged right down, I couldn’t see who it was for the blind was between us, and it was about ten minutes after that that young man came marching out.’

‘And then what followed?’

’Why, in about another ten minutes that Arab party himself comes scooting through the door.’

‘The Arab party?’

’Yes, the Arab party!  The sight of him took me clean aback.  Where he’d been, and what he’d been doing with himself while them there people played hi-spy-hi about his premises I’d have given a shilling out of my pocket to have known, but there he was, as large as life, and carrying a bundle.’

‘A bundle?’

’A bundle, on his head, like a muffin-man carries his tray.  It was a great thing, you never would have thought he could have carried it, and it was easy to see that it was as much as he could manage; it bent him nearly double, and he went crawling along like a snail,—­it took him quite a time to get to the end of the road.’

Mr Lessingham leaped up from his seat, crying, ’Marjorie was in that bundle!’

‘I doubt it,’ I said.

He moved about the room distractedly, wringing his hands.

‘She was! she must have been!  God help us all!’

’I repeat that I doubt it.  If you will be advised by me you will wait awhile before you arrive at any such conclusion.’

All at once there was a tapping at the window pane.  Atherton was staring at us from without.

He shouted through the glass, ’Come out of that, you fossils!—­ I’ve news for you!’

CHAPTER XLI

THE CONSTABLE,—­HIS CLUE,—­AND THE CAB

Miss Coleman, getting up in a fluster, went hurrying to the door.

’I won’t have that young man in my house.  I won’t have him!  Don’t let him dare to put his nose across my doorstep.’

I endeavoured to appease her perturbation.

’I promise you that he shall not come in, Miss Coleman.  My friend here, and I, will go and speak to him outside.’

She held the front door open just wide enough to enable Lessingham and me to slip through, then she shut it after us with a bang.  She evidently had a strong objection to any intrusion on Sydney’s part.

Standing just without the gate he saluted us with a characteristic vigour which was scarcely flattering to our late hostess.  Behind him was a constable.

’I hope you two have been mewed in with that old pussy long enough.  While you’ve been tittle-tattling I’ve been doing,—­listen to what this bobby’s got to say.’

The constable, his thumbs thrust inside his belt, wore an indulgent smile upon his countenance.  He seemed to find Sydney amusing.  He spoke in a deep bass voice,—­as if it issued from his boots.