"Mrs. Eastham! Why?"

"Because I want to see Miss Helen Layton. The old lady can send for her."

Hume needed no urging. He could not walk fast enough. They had gone a
hundred yards from the house when Brett suddenly stopped and checked his
companion.

Behind the yew trees on the left, and rendered invisible by a stout hedge,
a man was running--running at top speed, with the labouring breath of one
unaccustomed to the exercise. The barrister sprang over the strip of turf,
passed among the trees, and plunged into the hedge regardless of thorns.
He came back instantly.

"There is a footpath across the park, leading towards the lodge gates.
Where does it come out?" he asked, speaking rapidly in a low tone.

"It enters, the road near the avenue, close to the gates. It leads from a
farmhouse."

"A lady is walking through the park towards the lodge. Capella is running
to intercept her. Come! We may hear something."

Brett set off at a rapid pace along the turf. Hume followed, and soon they
were near the lodge. Mrs. Crowe saw them, and came out.

"Stop her!" gasped Brett.

Hume signalled the woman not to open the gate. She watched them with
open-mouthed curiosity. The barrister slowed down and quietly made his way