'My dear chap! Good's not the word.'

'Well, after you. Exit Livy, then. And a good job, too. You might pass
us the great Sherlock. Thanks.'

He plunged with the great detective into the mystery of the speckled
band, while Vaughan opened _Great Expectations_ at the place where
he had left off the night before. And a silence fell upon the study.

Curiously enough, Dallas was not the only member of Ward's House to
whom it occurred that evening that the absence of the House-master
supplied a good opportunity for a stroll. The idea had also struck
Plunkett favourably. He was not feeling very comfortable down-stairs.
On entering the senior study he found Galloway, an Upper Fourth member
of the House, already in possession. Galloway had managed that evening
to insinuate himself with such success into the good graces of the
matron, that he had been allowed to stay in the House instead of
proceeding with the rest of the study to the Great Hall for
preparation. The palpable failure of his attempt to hide the book he
was reading under the table when he was disturbed led him to cast at
the Mutual Friend, the cause of his panic, so severe and forbidding a
look, that that gentleman retired, and made for the junior study.

The atmosphere in the junior study was close, and heavy with a blend of
several strange odours. Plunkett went to the window. Then he noticed
what he had never noticed before, that there were no bars to the
window. Only the glass stood between him and the outer world. He threw
up the sash as far as it would go. There was plenty of room to get out.
So he got out. He stood for a moment inhaling the fresh air. Then,
taking something from his coat-pocket, he dived into the shadows. An