exaltation of intellect. And yet - and yet - it was in the hottest
room of all, in a temperature of 270ø Fahrenheit, that the bolt fell
from the Pall Mall Gazette which I had bought outside the bath.

I was turning over the hot, crisp pages, and positively revelling in
my fiery furnace, when the following headlines and leaded paragraphs
leapt to my eye with the force of a veritable blow:

BANK ROBBERS IN THE WEST END -
DARING AND MYSTERIOUS CRIME

An audacious burglary and dastardly assault have been committed
on the premises of the City and Suburban Bank in Sloane Street, W.
From the details so far to hand, the robbery appears to have been
deliberately planned and adroitly executed in the early hours of
this morning.

A night watchman named Fawcett states that between one and two
o'clock he heard a slight noise in the neighborhood of the lower
strong-room, used as a repository for the plate and other
possessions of various customers of the bank. Going down to
investigate, he was instantly attacked by a powerful ruffian,
who succeeded in felling him to the ground before an alarm could
be raised.

Fawcett is unable to furnish any description of his assailant
or assailants, but is of opinion that more than one were engaged
in the commission of the crime. When the unfortunate man
recovered consciousness, no trace of the thieves remained, with
the exception of a single candle which had been left burning on