something lying on the ground under the window. He picked it up.

"Here is the fellow's cap," he said. "You must have hit him a
shrewd blow, Charlie, for here is a clean cut through the cloth,
and a patch of fresh blood on the white lining. How did he get you
down, lad?"

"He fell so suddenly, when I hit him, that I thought I had either
killed or stunned him; but of course I had not, for it was but a
moment after, when I was speaking to you, that I felt my ankles
seized, and I went down with a crash. I heard him make off through
the bushes; but I was, for the moment, almost dazed, and could do
nothing to stop him."

"Was the window open when he came?"

"Yes, sir, two or three inches."

"Then it was evidently a planned thing.

"Well, gentlemen, we may as well go indoors. The fellow is well out
of our reach now, and we may be pretty sure he will never again
show his face here. Fortunately he heard nothing, for the serving
men had but just left the room, and we had not yet begun to talk."

"That is true enough, Sir Marmaduke," one of the others said. "The
question is: how long has this been going on?"

Sir Marmaduke looked at Charlie.