l! HTHE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAIi, PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING, ; AlIOUSOC
TVe Reappearance of Raffles T,,e CriminoIoftists' Clufe
c of If ri (Copyright by Ths North American Company.) .
BsSSSSBSSmTsasaBBs
The FourtKxjf a ;Series dS Five Stories Involving
the Mosi Celebrated Criminal Character
in Modern Fiction
lt waa Lord Thornaby himself who flred the first
hot, over ' the very sherry. Ha had Raffles on hla right
hand and the Wild West novelist on his left. Rafflea was
hemmed In by the Uw on hla right, while I iat between
Parrlngton and Ernest, who took the (foot of tiia JUbte,
and Beamed a eort of feudatory cadet of the noble
bousa. But It waa the motley lot of us that my lord
addreaaed, as he sat back blinking hla baggy eyes.
"Mr. Rafflea.' said he. "haa been telUng me about
that poor fellow who Buffered the extreme penalty laat
March. A great end, gentlemen, a great endl It la
true that he had been ungallant enough to cut a lady's
throat, but his own end should take Its place among
the most glorious traditions of the gallows. You tall
them, Mr. Kaffles; it will be aa new to my friends as it
la lo me."
' "I tell the tale aa I heard It laat time I played at
Trent Bridge; it waa never in the papers, I believe,"
aald Raffles gravely. "You may remember the tremen
dous excitement over the Test Matches out In Australia
at thy time; it Beems that the result of the crucial game
was expected on the condemned man's last day, and
he couldn't rest until he knew It. We pulled it oft, if
you recollect, and he aaid it would make him awing
happy."
"Tell 'em what else he said!" cried Lord Thornaby,
rubbing his podgy hands.
"The chaplain remonstrated with him on his xcite
ment over a game at such a time, and the convict Is
Bald to have replied. "Why, it's the first thing they'll
ask me at the other end of the dropl' "
. The story was new even to me. but I had no time to
appreciate its points. My concern was to watch Us
effect upon the other members of the party. Ernest,
on my- left, doubled up with, laughter, and tittered and
shook for several minutes; my other neighbor, more
Impressionable by temperament, winced first and then
worked himself into a state of enthusiasm which
culminated in an assault upon his shirt cuff with a
Joiner's pencil. Kingsmlll, Q.C., beaming tranquilly on
Raines, seemed the one least Impressed until he spoke.
"I am glad to hear that," he remarked in a high
bland voice. "I thought that man would die game.
"Did you know anything about him, then?" Inquired
Lord Thornaby.
"I appeared for the Treasury," replied the barrister
with a twinkle. "You might almost say that I meas
ured the poor man's neck."
The point must have been quite unpremeditated; It
was not the less effective for that. Lord Thornaby
looked askance at the callous silk. It was some mo
ments betfore Ernest tittered, and Parrlngton felt for
his pencil, and In the interim I had made short work
of my hock, though It was Johanntsberger. -Aa for
Raffles, one had but to see his horror to feel how com
pletely he was off his guard.
"In Itself, I have heard it was not a sympathetlo
case?" was the remark witn which he broke the gen
eral silence.
"Not a bit."
"That must have been a comfort to you," aald
Raffles dryly.
"It would have been to me." vowed our author, while
the barrister merely sm41ed. "I should have been very
aorry to have had a hand In hanging Peckham, and
Solomons the other day."
"Why Peckham and Solomons?" inquired my lord.
"They never meant to kill that old lady."
"But they strangled her in her bed with her own
pillow-easel"
"I don't care," said the uncouth scribe. "They didn't
a-w-UT who are they. Raffles, and Where's their
la house?' There's no such club on the Hat fl
J ' Whltaker."
"The criminologists, ray dear Bunny, art
too few for a local habitation, and too select to tell their
nam In Oath. They are merely fao many solemn stu
" denta of contemporary crime, who meet and din peri
odically at each other's clubs or houses."
. "But why In the world ahould they ask ua to dine
with them?"
And I brandlahed tha Invitation which bad brought
me hot foot to tha Albany. It waa from the Right Hon,
the Earl of Thornaby K. G., and members of tha Criml
nologiatB Club, andvlt requeated the honor of my com
pany at dinner, in three weeks' time, at Thornaby House,
Park lane. That In itself was a disturbing oOmpllment.
Judge then of my dismay on learning that Rafflea had
been Invited, too. ' . .
They have got It Into their headB." said he, "that
the gladiatorial element, is the curse of most modern
eport. They tremble especially for tha professional
gladiator. And they want to know whether my ex
perience tallies with their theory."
"I don't believe them!" -
"They uote the case of a league player, sua per
coll., and any number of aulcidea It really la rather
In my publio line."
"In yours, if you like, but not In mine," Bald I. No,
Raffles, they've got their eye on us both, and mean to
put ua under tha microscope, or they never would have
pitched on. me." -
Rafflea amiled upon my perturbation.
"I almost wish you were right. Bunny! It would be
even better fun than I mean to make it as it Is. But it
may console you to hear that it was I who gave them
your names I told them you were a far keener crimi
nologist than myself. I am delighted to hear they have
taken my hint, and that we are to meet at thelc grew
aome board." . . . ,
"If I accept," said I. with the auaterity he deaerved.
"If you don't," rejoined Raffles, "you will miss some
port after both our hearts. Think of it, Bunny! Thes
fellows meet to wallow in all the latest crimes. We wal
low with them as though we knew no more about it
than themselves. Perhaps we don't, for few criminolo
gists have a soul above murder, and I quite expect to
have the privilege of lifting the discussion Into our own
higher walk. They shall give their morbid minds to the
fine art of burgling for a change, and while we're about
It, Bunny, we majr as well extract their opinion of our
noble selves. As authors, as collaborators, we will sit
with the flower of our critics and find our own level in
the expert eye. It will be a piquant experience, if. not
an Invaluable one. If we are sailing too near tha wind,
we are sure to hear about It. and can trim our sails
accordingly. Moreover, we shall get a very good dinner
into the bargain, or our noble host will belie a European
reputation."
"Do you know him?" I asked.
"We have a pavilion acquaintance, when It suits my
lord," replied Baffles, chuckling. "But I know all about
him. He was president one year of the M. C. C, and we
never bad a better. He knowa the game, though I be
lieve he never played cricket in his life. But then be
knows most things, and has never done any of them.
Ha has never even married, and never opened his Hps
In the house of lords. Tet they say there la no better
brain in the august assembly, and he certainly made us
a wonderful apeech last time the Australians were over.
He haa read everything and (to hla credit In these days)
never written a line. All round he is a whale for theory
and a sprat for practice, but ha looks quite capable of
both at crime."
I now longed to behold this remarkable peer In the
flesh, and with the greater ardor, since another of the
things which he evidently never did was to have his
photograph published fur the benefit of the curious. I
told Raffles that I would dine with him at Lord Thorna
by'a, and he nodded as though I had not hesitated for
a moment. I see now how deftly he had disposed of my
reluctance. No doubt, he had thought it all out before.
His little speeches look sufficiently premeditated aa I set
them down at the dictates of an excellent memory. Let
It, however, be borne in mind that Raffles did not talk
exactly Ilka a Rafflea book; he said the things, but he
did not say them in so many consecutive breaths. They
were punctuated by puffs from his eternal cigarette, and -the
punctuation waa often in the nature of a Una of
asterisks, while he took a silent turn up and down his
room. Nor was he ever more deliberate than when he
seemed most nonchalant and spontaneous. I came to
see it In the end. But these were early days, in which
he was more plausible to me than I can hope to make
him appear to another human being. And I saw a good
deal of Raffles Just then. It was. In fact, the one period
at which I can remember his coming round to sea me
more frequently than I went round to him. Of course,
he would come at his own odd hours, often Just as one
waa dressing to turn out and dine, and I can even re
member finding him there when I returned, for I had
long since given him a key of the fiat. It waa the Inhos
pitable month of February, and I can recall more than
one cozy evening when we discussed anything and every
thing but our oatn malpractices. Indeed, there were none
to discuss Jusflhen. Raffles, on the contrary, was
showing himself with some Industry In the most respect
able society, and by his advice I used the club more
than ever.
"There Is nothing like It at this time of year, aald
he. "In the summer I have my cricket to provide me
with decent employment in the sight of men. Keep your
self before the public from morning to night, and they'll
never think of you in the still small hours."
Our behavior, in fine, had so long been Irreproach
able that I arose without misgivings on trie morning of
Lord Thornaby's dinner fb the other criminologists and
guests. My chief anxiety was to arrive under the aegis -of
my brilliant friend, and I had begged him to pick
ma up on his way; but at five minutes to ths appointed
hour there was no Blgn of Raffles or his cab. We were
bidden at a quarter to 8 for 8 o'clock, so, after all, I had
to hurry off alone.
Fortunately, Thornaby House Is almost at the end of,
my street that was, and It seemed to me another for
tunate circumstance that the house stood back as it did,
and does, In lta own august courtyard; for, as I was
about to knock, a hansom came twinkling in behind me,
and I drew back, hoping it was Raffles at the last mo
ment It was not, and I knew It In time to melt from
the porch, and wait yet another minute in the-shadows,
since others were as late as I. And out Jumped these
others, chattering in stage whispers as they paid their
cab.
"Thornaby has a bet about It with Freddy Vereker,
who can't come, I hear. Of course, It won't be lost or
won tonight But the dear man thinks he's been Invited
as a cricketer."
"I don't .believe he's the other thing," said a rolce
aa brusque as the first was bland. "I believe It's all
bunkum. I wish I didn't, but I do."
"I think you'll find it's more than that," rejoined the
other, as the doors opened and swallowed the pair.
I leave my feelings to the popular imagination. I flung
out limp hands and smote the air. Raffles bidden to
what he had well called this "grewsome board,", not aa a
cricketer, but as a suspected criminal! Rattles wrong all
the time, and I right for once in my original apprehen
sion! And still no Raffles In sight no Raffles to warn
no Rafflea and the clock striking 8!
-.Well. may. I ahirk the psychology of . such a moment,
for my belief is that the striking clocks struck down
my power of thought and feeling, and that I played
my poor part the better for that blessed surcease of In
tellectual sensation. On the other hand, I waa never
more alive to the purely objective Impressions of any
hour of my existence, and of them the memory la
startling to this day. I hear my mad knock at the
double doors; they fly open In the middle, and It is like
some sumptuous and solemn rite. A long slice of
silken-legged lackey is seen on either hand; a very
prelate of a butler bows a benediction from the sanc
tuary steps. I breathe more freely wnen I reach
a
book-lined library, where a mere handful of men do not
arflni the Indian rug before the Are. One of them la
Raffles; he is talking to a large man with the brow of M . . . . . - .
a deml-god, and the eyea and chin of a degenerate 1 Here S a most Considerate Scheme 01 pipes
hulldOff. Ann mis is ur uuuia num..
imi Thomabv stared at me with Inscrutable stolid
ity as we shook hands, and at once handed me over to
a tall ungainly man whom he addressed as. Ernest,
but whose surname I never learned. Ernest In turn
introduced me, with a shy snd clumsy courtesy, to the
two remaining guests. They were the pair who had
driven up in' the hansom; one turned out to be Kings
mill Q. C; the other I knew at a glance, from his
photographs, as Parrlngton, the backwoodsman of let
ters They were admirable folia to each other, tha bar
rister being plump and dapper, with a Napoleonio cast
of countenance, and the author one of the shaggiest
men I have ever seen in evening clothes. Jfelther took
much stock of me, but both had an eye on Raffles as I
exchanged a few words with each in turn. Dinner,
, however, - was immediately announced, and the six at
us had Boon taken our places round a brilliant little
table stranded in a great dark room.
I had not been prepared for so small a party, and at
first I felt relieved. If the worst came to the wors l
was fool enough to sax, la my heart, they were but two
"to one. But I was soon sighing for that safety which
the adage associates with numbers. We were far too
few for the confidential duologue with one's neighbor in
which I at least, would have taken refuge from the
perils . Of . jl rr anara L conversation. And the general con
Wsation soon'resolVed' Itself tntd an attack, so subtly
concerted and bo artistically delivered that I could not
conceive how Rafflea should ever snow u ior an aiiacx.
US 11)11 'UIlllll miniNI, ut Iran unit aim mi .iim
tparll. But to this day I am not convinced tht I also charged wll
waa honored by Ine, suspicions of the club; It may , not quite tt
havs been ao, and they may ham Ignored a for tha
'burner., gam
break In for that. They, never thought of scragging
her. The foolish old person would make a noise, and
one of them tied too tight. I calj It Jolly bad luck on
them."
"On quiet, harmless, well-behaved thieves," added
Lord Thornaby, "In tha unobtrusive exercise at their
humble avocation!"
And, as he turned to Raffles with his puffy smile. I
felt that we had reached that part of the ' program
-which had undergone rehearsal; it had been perfectly
timed to arrive with the champagne, and I was not
afraid to signify my appreciation of that small mercy.
But Raffles laughed so qufckly at his lordship's humor,
and yet with such a natural restraint, aa to leave no
doubt that he had taken kindly to my awn old part,
and was playing the Innocent Inimitably In his turn, by
reason of his very Innocence. It was a poetio Judg
ment on old Raffles, and in my enjoyment of the novel
situation I was able also to enjoy soma of tha good
things that accrued (from thle rich man's table. The
! saddle of mutton more than Justified lta place In the
menu. But It had not spoiled me for my .wins; of
pheasant and I was even .looking forward to a sweet,
when a further remark from tha literary light recalled
ma from the table to Its talk.
"But I suppose," said Parrlngton to Klngtmlll, "It's
many a burglar you've restored to -hla friends and hla
relational .
say many a boor' fellow who haa been
th burglary." seblied ' the cheerv Q.C. "It's
tha same thing, you know, nor Is manv tha
most aocurat word; I haver touch criminal work la
"It's tha only Idnd I should car about." aald tha
novelist, eating- Jelly with a spoon.
"1 qulta agree with you," our host chimed In. "And
of all tha criminals one might be called upon to defend,
give ma-the enterprising burglar."
"It must. Indeed, be the breeziest branch of tha
business." remarked Raffles while I held my breath.
But his tone waa as light as gossamer, and his art
less manner a triumph of even hla incomparable art.
Raffles waa alive to the danger at laat. I aaw him
refuse more champagne, even as I drained my glass
again. But It was not the same danger to ua both.
Raffles had no reason to feel surprise or alarm at such
" a turn In a conversation frankly devoted to criminology;
it must seem as Inevitable to him as it was sinister to
me, with my fortuitous knowledge of the suspicions that
were entertained. And there was tittle to put him on
his guard In the touch of hlB adversaries, which was
only less light than bis own.
T am not very-fond of Mr. Bikes," announced tha
barrister, like a man who had got his cue.
"But he is prehistoric," rejoined my lord. "A lot
of blood haa flowed under the razor alnce the days of
' Bweet William."
"True, you have had Charlie Peace?' cried Par
rlngton. and launched out Jnto auch glowing' details of
that criminal's last moments that I began to hope tha
diversion might prove permanent But Lord Thornaby
waa not to be dented.
"William and Charles are both dead monarcha." Bald
ha "The reigning king In their department is th fel
low who gutted poor Danbye place In Bond street."
There was a guilty silence on the part of tha three
conspirators (for I had long since persuaded myself that
Ernest was not in their secret-and tnen my blood
froze.
"I know him well," said Raffles, looking up.
j Lord Thornaby stared at him In consternation. The
smile on the Napoleonic countenance of the barrister
looked forced and frozen for the first time during tha
evening. The wild man of letters, who was nibbling
cheese from a knife, left a drop of blood upon his
beard. The futile Ernest alone met the occasion with
a hearty titter.
"What!" cried my lord. "You know the thief?
"I wish I did," rejoined Raffles, chuckling. "No.
Lord Thornaby, I only meant the Jeweler, Danby. I
go 'to him when I want a wedding present"
I heard three deep breath drawn as on. Then I
drew my own. ,
"Rather a coincidence," observed our host dryly,
"for I believe you also know the Manchester people,
where Lady Melrose had her necklace stolen a few
months afterward."
"1 was staying there at the time," said Raffles
eagerly. No snob' was ever quicker to boast of basking
in the smile of the great
"We believe It to be the same man." said Lord
Thornaby, speaking apparently for the Criminologists'
Club, and with much less severity of voice.
"I only wish I could come across Mm," continued
Raffles heartily; "he's a criminal much more to my mind
than your murderers who swear on the drop or talk
cricket in the condemned cell."
"He might be in the house now." a!d Lord Thor
aby, looking Raflles in the face. But his manner was
that of an actor In an unconvincing part and a mood
to play It gamely to the bitter end. and he seemed
embittered, aa even a rich man may be In the moment
of losing a bet,
"What a Joke if he were!" cried our man of letters.
"Abslt omen!" murmured Raffles, In better taste.
"Still, I think you'll find it's a favorite time."
argued Kingsmlll. Q.C. "And It would be quite In
keeping with the character of this man, so far as it Is
known, to pay a little visit to the President of the
Criminologists' Club, and to choose the evening on
which he happens to be entertaining the other mem
bers." There was more conviction in this sally than In that
og our noble host, but this I attributed to the trained
and skilled dissimulation of the bar. Lord Thornaby.
however, was not to be amused by the elaboration of
his own idea, and it was with some asperity that he
called upon the butler, now solemnly superintending the
removal of the cloth:
"Leggett! Just eend upstairs to see If all th doors
aj-e open and the rooms In proper order. That'a an
awful Idea of yours, Kingsmlll. or of mine!" added my
lord, recovering the courtesy of his order by an effort
that I could follow. "We should look .fools! I don't
know which of ub it was, by the way, who seduced the
rest from the main stream of blood Into this burglarious
backwater. Are you familiar with De Qulncey'a mas
terpiece on Murder as a Fine Art, Mr. Raffles?"
"I believe I once read it." replied Raffles doubtfully.
"Once!" echoed the literary man.
1 "You must read it again." pursued the peer. "It Is
the last word on a great subject; all we can hope to
add is some baleful illustration or some bloodstained
footnote, not unworthy of De Qulncey'a text Well,
Leggett?"
The venerable butler stood wheezing at his elbow.
I had not hitherto observed that the man was an
asthmatic yQXjr ior(jShip's pardon, but I think your
lordship must have (forgotten."
The voice came in rude gasps but words of reproach
could scarcely have achieved a finer delicacy.
"Forgotten, Leggett! Forgotten what, may I ask?"
"Locking your lordship's dressing-room door behind
your lordship, my lord," stuttered tha unfortunate Leg
gett in the short spurts of. a winded man, a few ster
torous syllables at a time. "Been up myself, my lord.
Outer door Inner door both locked inside!"
But by this time the noble master was in a worse
case than the man. His fine forehead was a tangle of
livid cords; his baggy Jowl rilled out like a balloon. In
another second he had abandoned his place as our host
and fled the room, and in yet another we had forgotten
ours as his guests and rushed out headlong at his heels.
Kaffles was as excited as any of us now; he out
stripped us all; the cherubic little lawyer and I had a
fine race for the last place but one. which I secured,
though the butler and his panting satellites brought up
a respectful rear. It was our unconventional author,
however, who was the first to volunteer his assistance
aufl advice.
"No use pushing, my lord!" cried he. "If It's been
done with a wedge and gimlet, you may smash the door,
but you'll never force it. Ia there a ladder in the
place?"
"There's a rope-ladder, somewhere. In case of fire,
I believe." said my lord vaguely as he rolled a critical
eye over our faces. "Where Is it kept, Leggett?"
"William will fetch it. sir." ,
And a pair of noble calves went flashing to the upper
regions.
"No. need if or him to bring It down," said Parring
Kn, who had thrown back to the wilds in his excite
ment. "Let him hang it out of the window above your
lordship's, and let me climb down and in at the window!
I'll undertake to have one or other of the doors open in
two twos!" 5
The fastened doora were at right angles on the land
ing which we filled between us. Lord Thornaby smiled
grimly oh the rest of us. when he had nodded and dis
missed the author like a hound from the laash.
"It's a good thing we know something about our
friend Parrlngton," said my lord. "He takes more
kindly to all this than I do, I can tell you."
"It's grist to his mill," said Raffles charitably.
"Kxactly! We shall have the whole thing In hi
next book."
"I hope to have it at the Old Bailey first," re
marked Kingsmlll, Q.C.
"Refreshing to find a man of letters auch a man
of action, too!"
It was Raffles who spoke again, and the remark
seemed rather trite for him, but In the tone there was
a something that Just oaught my private ear. And for'
once I understood: the officious attitude ef Parrlngton,
without being Beriously suspicious In itself, was ad
mlraby calculated to put a previously suspected person
In a grateful shade. This literary adventurer had
elbowed Raffles out of the limelight, and gratitude for
the service was what I had detected In Raffle's voice.
No need to say how grateful I felt myseHf. But my
gratitude was shot through with flashes of unwonted
Insight. Parrlngton was one- of those who suspected
RaffleB, or at, nil events, one who was in the secret of
these suspicions. What if he had traded on the sus
pect's presence In the house? What If he were a deep
villain himself, and the villain of this particular piece?
I had made up my mind about him, and that In the
tithe at the time I take to make it up' as a rule, when
we heard my man in the dressing-room. He greeted us
with an impudent shout; in a few moments the door
was open, and there stood Parrlngton, flushed and dis
heveled, with a gimlet in one hand and a wedge In the
other.
Within was a scene of eloquent disorder. Drawers
had been pulled out, and now stood on end, their con
tents heaped upon the carpet. Wardrobe doors stood
open; empty stud-cases strewed the floor; a clock, tied
up In a towel, had been tossed into a chair at the last
moment. .But a long tin lid protruded from an open
cupboard in one corner. And one had only to see Lord ""
Thornaby's wry face behind the lid to guess that It waa "
bent over a somewhat empty tin' trunk.
"What a rum lot to steal!" said he, with a twitch
of humor at the corners of his canine mouth.vgrf'My
peer's robes, with coronet complete!" . -Mf.
We rallied round him In a seemly silence. I thought
our scribe would put in- his word. But even he either
feigned or felt a proper awe.
"You 'may say it waa a rum place to keep 'em."
continued Lord Thornaby. ' "But where, would you gen
tlemen stable your white elephants? And these were
elephanta as white aa anow; by Jove, I'll job them for
tn ruturer-
stairs, leaving the pollca In possession of the theater
of crime. Lord Thornaby linked arms with Rafflea aa
he led the way. His step waa lighter, his gayety no
longer sardonic; his very looks bad Improved. And I
divined the load that had been -lifted from the hospitable
heart of our host
"I only wish," said he, ''that this brought ua any
nearer to the Identity of the gentleman we were dia
cusstng at dinner; for, of course, we owe It to all our
Instincts to assume that It was he."
I wonder!" said old Raflles, with a foolhardy
glance at me.
. "'But I'm sure of it, my dear sir!" cries my lord.
The audacity Is his and his alone. I look no further
than the fact of his honoring meon the one night off
the year when I endeavor to entertain my brother
criminologists. That's no coincidence, sir, but a delib
erate Irony, which would have occurred to no other
criminal mind In England."
"You may be right." Raffles had the sense to say
this time but I think It was my face that made him.
"What Is still more certain." resumed the other, "Is
that no other criminal In the world would have crowned
so delicious a conception with so perfect an achieve
ment. I feel sure the Inspector will agree with us."
The head policeman, with the peaked cap, had
'"Fight our way out and bolt!' o answered with
mouth that meant it and a fin gay glitter, of tha eyea,
I Bhot out of tny chair. 1 .
"You don't mean-to tell ma you had a hand la tha
Job?" . :'
"I had the only hand In It, my dear Bunny. .
"Nonsense! You were sitting at table at tha tlmv
No, but you may have taken some other fellow Into
the show. I always thought you would!' '
"One's quite enough, Bunny," said . Rafflea dryly.
He leaned back In his chair and took out another
cigarette. And I accepted of yet another from hla case:
for It was no use losing one's temper with Rafflea and
Incredible statement waa not, after all. 40 ba Ignored.
,,. Of courae." I went on. "If you really had brought
this thing on your own account. I should be tha laat
to criticise your means of reaching euch an and. Youi
a, 12t..on!y aeored off a far superior force, whksit
had laid itself out to score off you, but you have put
them In the wrong about you, and they'll eat out of
your hand for the rest of their daye. But don't ask me
to believe that you've done all this alonel By Oeorgel"
I cried, in a sudden wave of enthusiasm 'I don't car
E.S- th.tJ101"1 "' or TT, ha helped you. If th
biggest thing you ever a,d ,n your ufe,.. .
And certainly i had never seen Raffles look nwr
radiant or 'better pleased with th
world and himself or nearer that
elation which he usually left to me.
"Then you shall hear all about It
Bunny, if you'll do what I aak you.'
"Ask, old chap, and th thing'
done." . f .
"All of them?'1 , .-f
"I think so." ' i 'V,-:
"There, , then." V
"Now go to the back window and
up with the blind." ,
"Well 7" ""V '
"I'm coming to you. Bplendldl t
never had a look ao lata as this. It's
the only window left alight In th
house!"
His cheek against the Pl ha
was pointing slightly downward and
very much aslant through a long lan
of mews to a little square light Ilka a
yellow tile at the end. But I had
opened the window and leaned Out
before I saw it for myaeir
"You don't mean to Bay that'i
Thornaby House?"
I was not familiar with tha view
from my back windows. V '
"Of course I do, you rabbit! Have
a look through 'your own race-glass.
It has been the most useful thing of
all."
But before I had the glass la
focus, more scale had fallen from myj
eyes, and now I knew why I had,
seen so much of RaffleB these last
few weeks and why he had always
come between 7 and 8 o'clock la th
evening, and waited at this Very
window, with these very glasses at
his eyes. I saw through them sharp
ly now. The one lighted window
pointed out by Raffles cam tumbling
imo me aartt circles of my vision.
I could not see Into the actual room
but the shadows of those within were
quite distinct on the lowered blind, i
even thought a black thread still
dangled against the square of light.
It waa, it must be, the window to
which the Intrepid Parrlngton bad
aesceaaea irom tne one abov.
"Exactly!" said Baffles in answer
to my exclamation. "And that's th
window I have been watching these
mi rew weem. uy oayugni you can
see the whole lot above the ground
floor on thia aide of the house, and,
by good luck, one of them is th room
in which tne master of the house ar
rayed himself in all his nlarhtlv arlorv.
It was easily spotted by watching at
the right time. I saw him shaved
one morning before you were up. In
mo evening ius vaiei atays oenlnd to
put things straight and that haa
been the very mischief. In th nA I
had to find out something about th
man, and wire to him from his girl
to meet her outside at t o'clock; Of
course, he pretends he was at his
post at the time; that I foresaw, and
did th poor fellow's work before my
Raffles was as excited as any of US now. He Outstripped US all" garment before I permitted myself
In Tar h Toon
1 wonder you had time!" ?
knocked and been admitted to the library aa Lord
Thornjaby spoke.
"I didn't hear what you said, my lord."
"Merely that the perpetrator of this amusing out
rage can be no other than ths swell mobsman who
relieved Lady Melrose of her necklace and poor Danby
of half his stock a year or two ago."
"I believe your lordship has hit the nail on th
head."
"The man who took the Thlmblely diamonda and
returned them to Lord Thlmblely, you know."
"Not he! I don't mean to cry over my spilled milk.
I only wish the fellow Joy of all he had time to take.
Anything fresh upstairs, by the way?"
"Yes, my lord; the robbery took place between a
quarter past eight and the half-hour."
"How on earth do you know?"
"The clock that was tied up In the towel had stopped
at twenty past."
"Have you Interviewed my man?"
"I have, my lord. He was In your lordship's rooms
until close on the quarter, and all was as It should be
when he left it."
"Then do you suppose the burglar waa In hiding In
the house?"
"It's Impossible to say. my lord. He Is not In the
house now, for he could only be In your lordship's bed
room or dressing-room, and we have searched every
inch of both."
Lord Thornaby turned to us when the Inspector
had retreated, caressing his peaked cap.
"I told him to clear up those points first," he ex
claimed. Jerking his head toward the door. 'I had
reason- to think my man had been neglecting his duties
up there. I am glad to find I am mistaken. ,T
I ought to have been no less glad that I was mis.
taken. My suspicions of our officious author were thus
proved to have been as wild as himself, I owed the
man no grudge, and yet In my human heart I felt
vaguely disappointed. My theory had gained color from
his behavior ever since he had admitted us to the dressing-room;
it had changed all at once ffrom the familiar
to the morose, and only now was I just enough to
remember that Lord Thornaby, having tolerated those
familiarities as long as they were connected with useful
service, had administered ft relentless snub the moment
that service had been well and truly performed.
But, If Parrlngton was exonerated In my mind,
so also was Raffles reinstated In the regard of those
who had entertained a far more serious hypothesis.
It was a miracle of good luck, a coincidence among
coincidences which had whitewashed him in their sight,
at the very moment when they were straining the expert
eve to sift him through and through. But the miracle
had been performed, and its effect was visible in every
face and audible in every voice. I except Ernest, who
had never been In the secret; moreover, that gay crim
inologist had been palpably Bhaken by his first little
experience of crime. But the other three vied among
themselves .to do honor where they had done injustice.
1 heard Kingsmlll. Q. C. telling Baffles the best time
to catch him at chambers, and promising a seat in court
for any trial he might ever like to hear. Parrlngton
spoke of a presentation copy of his latest bushwhack
ing romance, and in paying, homage to Raffles made
hla peace with our host. As for Lord Thornaby. I did
overhear the name of the Athenaeum Club, a reference
to his friends on the Committee, and a whisper (as I
thought) of Rule II. But he and Raffles had their
heads too close together for me to swear honestly to
the Rule. , ,
- The police were still In possession when We went
our several ways, and it was all thaVI could do to drag
Raffles up to my roorhs. though, as I have said, they
were Just round the corner. He consented at last as a
lesser evil than talking of the burglary In the street
and In my rooms I told him of hrs late danger and
my own dilemma, of the few words I bad overheard In
the beginning, of the thin Ice on which he had cut
figures without a crack. It was all very well for him.
He had never realized his peril.. But let him think of
me listening, watching, yet unable to lift a finger,
unable tq say one warning word.
Raffles heard me out, but a weary sigh followed the
last symmetrical whiff at a Sullivan which he flung
into my Are before he spdke.
"No, I won't have another, thank you. Tm going
to talk to you. Bunny. Do you really suppose I didn't
see through these wiseacres from the first?"
I flatly refused to believe he had done ao before
that evening. Why had he never mentioned his idea
to me? It had been quite the other way, as I indig
nantly reminded kRaffles. Did he mean me to believe he
was the man to thrust his head into the lion's mouth
for fun? And what point would there hay been in
dragging me there to see the fun?
"I might have wanted you. Bunny. I very nearly
did."
"For my face?"
"It has been my fortune before tonight. Bunny. It
has also given me more confidence than you are likely
to bellevo at this time of day. . You stimulate me mors
than "you think." v
"Your gallery and your prompter's box In one?"
."Capital, Bunny! But It waa no joking matter with
me, either, my dear fellowf-itrwartouch-and-go at the
time. I might have called on you at any moment ana
on exactly fifteen. By th way, I did that literally, of
pourm. In tha rase of the clock they found! it's an nlt
dodge to atop a clock and alter the time, but you must-
aumit that It looKea as inougn one naa wrapped it
up all ready to cart away. There was thus any amount
or prima facte evidence oi tne roDDery naving taken
Llace when we were all at table; aa a matter of fact
ord Thornaby left his dressing-room on minute, his
valet followed him the minute after, and I entered
tne minute arter mat.-"Throua-h
the window?"
"To be sure. I was waiting below In th garden.
You have to pay for your garden in town, In, more 1
ways than one. You know the- wall, of courae, and
"i juuy via postern i a no iock waa oeneatn. contempt."
"But what about the window? It's on th first floor.
' iSH t" It?"' ' V- - :.:...-....a f.-; resv.
Raffles took up the cane which he had laid down
with his overcoat. It was a stout bamboo with a not.
lshed ferrule. He unscrewed the ferrule, and' shook;
out of the cane a diminishing series of smaller canes,
exactly ilk a child's flahlng-rod, which I afterward
.U..u u nsve Deen tneir rormer state. A doubt hook
or steel was now produced and quickly attached to th
tip of the top Joint; then Raffles undid the thre but
tons of his waistcoat and lapped round and round his
waist I beheld the finest of manlla ropes, with the
. a . ioot-ioops at regular Intervals.
" necessary to go any further V asked Raffle I
wh i
f.t . u,'""u"" rope, mis ena is mad
hni,t2.t-hat end 0Lthe nook: th8 other half of th
hook fltg over anything that comes Its way, and yott
jeave your rod dangling while you twurm tin vad
line, or coi
ITiA vntl mn Irnnw j.
with . X'. i ." " "aa a porcelain bath,
for me " vZVL-flxed ln .hu "alng-room is th man
n T5ere 1 most considerate acheme of pipe
outside, and one of them had a fixing at Just the right
ilf KU!i'... coure. I had made a reconnolssanc by day
in addjtlon. to many by night; it would hardly hav
been worth while constructing my ladder on chine"'
"So you made It on purpose!". "
i1J.My.dr Bun.njL'." al(J Rmes, as he wound th
hemp girdle round his waist once more . "I never did)
tare for ladder-work, but I always said that if I ever
used a ladder It should be the best of its kind ever
Invented. This one may come in useful again." .
But how long did the whole thing take you?
rom mother, earth to mother earth? About fiv
minutes, tonight, and one of those was spent in dolnar
another man's work." " " ""
''n5tr 1 "led "You mean to tell me you climbed
up and down. In and out, and broke Into that cUDboari
and that big tin box, and wedged up the door Md
ThJ'ilS61011'1' and o course. J didn'tr '
'II J what A" you mean, and what did you dor
Mad two bites at the cherry. Bunny I had a
dress rehearsal In the dead of last night and It wa2
then I took the swag. Our noble friend was .nVrT
next door all the time, but that, f you BkeTmay "tanS
high among my little achlevementsr for I not Ml ?
took all I wanted, but .left the whole place exactl? aa
LvOUv,,Sand',hut thine a" m good lftt"
boy. That took a good deal lonaer- tnnlrht T.i.3
simply to rag the room a bit. sweep aome atuae and
links, and leave ample evidence of havfna boned tho.
rotten robes tonight Tha. if you com fo think of L.
was the quintessential Q.E.F.! I haveH not on ly shown
these dear criminologists that. I couldn't possibly hav
whl? thlftrlcic'ut that ther'- om other f.iio,?
who could and did. and whom they'v been Veriest
asses to confuse with me ' " ,"rl,cs
You may figure me as gazing on Raffles all this
time in mute and rapt amazement. But I had Ion a
hnKPutt that. pltch' lf ne hd toi now that h
had broken into the Bank of England, or th Tower
I should not have disbelieved him for a moment f
wa? PP"" to go home with him to ths Albany and
find the Regalia in his hat-box. And I took"Vw
my overcoat as he put on hla But Rafflea iuld hat
hear of my accompanyin him that nirht r "
2;k my d.ar Bun"v' r m "hort of Bleep and fed
tip with excitement You mayn't believ It you mar I
look upon me aa a plaster devil-but those fiv minute
you wot of were rather too crowded even for my tat'
The dinner was at quarter to eight for eight and I
don t mind telling you nptv that I counted on twice a i
long as I had. But no one cart early, and our host
wasn t down before twelve minutes, to. J didn't want
to be the-last to arrive. Aa a rnnitar .. t .
the first, and In the drawing-room five minutes before
the hour.
Rllt It WA . iltk-htnn- ih.. T
about, wnen ail ia said.- "rr".r," "r'
And his last word on the matter, as he nodded an 1
went hla way, may well be mine; for one need be
criminologist, much less a member of the Criminolo
gists' Club, to remember what Raffles did with ti
robes and coronet of the Right Hon. th Earl of Thin,
aby. K.G. He did with them exactly what he tnt.r
hav been expected to do by ths gentleman with win, .
we had foregathered, and ha did It In a manner ,
characteristic of himself as surely' to remove re
their -minds the laat aura of the Ida that h
-himself we r the same person. Carter Pstcrson v
out or in question, ana any laneunar or so or .
town.
; -v . :..v "- v: -'
And he made merrier over his loss than any of us it was something to know I ahould not hav called be deprecated on obvious grounds. But Rms
could. have Imagined th minute before: but the reason in vain!" - - tha whltait, )mhanta in ih inafc. .
dawned on Jne a litU later, when we all trooped down- - ")jut what to do, Raffles?" Cross and sent Lord Thornaby ths tlckat
WmM
:v:-v-.