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 Mayne scratched his grizzled head in pained perplexity. To his slow brain the incident of a wealthy nobleman fleeing in the dead of night from a creditor presented a startling incongruity, but gradually it recurred to him that he had heard that the new Duke had been “a bit wild” when in the army; and, after all, his reluctance to be recognized by the Colonel till he had had time to liquidate the debt seemed but natural.

“Yes, it can be done, your Grace,” replied the keeper, softly opening the lattice casement. “The lean-to roof of the woodshed reaches right up here, and there’s a pile of faggots against the shed. You can get down easy enough, and as it’s the back of the house, if you are careful, he won’t know anything about it. But I’ll come, too, and show your Grace the way out of the wood.”

“On no account, Mayne,” said Beaumanoir quickly. “You’ll be much more useful here. I’ll find my way out of the wood all right, but you must go back to the kitchen and tell Colonel Walcot that I am going to bed. It’s only a white lie, and here’s a five-pound note on account of it. Stay with him as long as you