"Where, my dear fellow, where?" David asked.

"Why, in the Sussex County Hospital, of course. The man may die, in
which case everything must be sacrificed in order to save your good
name. On the other hand, he may get better, and then he will tell us all
about it."

"He might. On the other hand, he might plead ignorance. It is possible
for him to suggest that the whole affair was merely a coincidence, so far
as he was concerned."

"Yes, but he would have to explain how he burgled your house, and what
business he had to get himself half murdered in your conservatory. Let us
get out here and walk the rest of the way to your house. Our cabby knows
quite enough about us without having definite views as to your address."

The cabman was dismissed with a handsome _douceur_, and the twain turned
off the front at the corner of Eastern Terrace. Late as it was, there
were a few people lounging under the hospital wall, where there was a
suggestion of activity about the building unusual at that time of the
night. A rough-looking fellow, who seemed to have followed Bell and Steel
from the front, dropped into a seat by the hospital gates and laid his
head back as if utterly worn out. Just inside the gates a man was smoking
a cigarette.

"Halloa, Cross," David cried, "you are out late tonight!"

"Heavy night," Cross responded, sleepily, "with half a score of accidents
to finish with. Some of Palmer of Lingfield's private patients thrown off