the flags of the corridor. The strong-room, however, had been
opened, and it is feared the raid on the chests of plate and
other valuables may prove to have been only too successful, in
view of the Easter exodus, which the thieves had evidently taken
into account. The ordinary banking chambers were not even
visited; entry and exit are believed to have been effected
through the coal cellar, which is also situated in the basement.
Up to the present the police have effected no arrest.

I sat practically paralyzed by this appalling news; and I swear that,
even in that incredible temperature, it was a cold perspiration in
which I sweltered from head to heel. Crawshay, of course! Crawshay
once more upon the track of Raffles and his ill-gotten gains! And
once more I blamed Raffles himself: his warning had come too late:
he should have wired to me at once not to take the box to the bank
at all. He was a madman ever to have invested in so obvious and
obtrusive a receptacle for treasure. It would serve Raffles right
if that and no other was the box which had been broken into by the
thieves.

Yet, when I considered the character of his treasure, I fairly
shuddered in my sweat. It was a hoard of criminal relics. Suppose
his chest had indeed been rifled, and emptied of every silver thing
but one; that one remaining piece of silver, seen of men, was quite
enough to cast Raffles into the outer darkness of penal servitude!
And Crawshay was capable of it - of perceiving the insidious revenge
- of taking it without compunction or remorse.

There was only one course for me. I must follow my instructions to
the letter and recover the chest at all hazards, or be taken myself