The Gold Bat

went an

oor. Trevor dived among the debris and retrieved the latest addition to his art gallery, the photograph of this year's first fifteen. It was a wreck. The glass was broken and the photograph itself slashed with a knife till most of the faces were unrecognisable. He picked up another treasure, last year's first eleven. Smashed glass again. Faces cut about with knife as before. His collection of snapshots was torn into a thousand fragments, though, as Mr Jerome said of the papier

The string was still there, as good as new, but of the eggs nothing was to be seen, save a fine parti-coloured powd

for some time, when he looked up to

Clowes, "bee

mments on the situation. C

hat you've got too many things on the floor, and too few anywhere else?

reathed

nd the chap who did

ceeded to pick up various misplaced a

said presently, "

se of Mill, was a neat white card, and on it were

t this?" asked Clowes. "Come i

. "I don't want people to see this. It mustn't get about. I'm not going to have my st

Clowes. "Friend, my place is by your sid

sopped up. The broken photographs were stacked in a neat pile in one corner, with a rug over them. The mantelpiece was still empty, but, as Clowes pointed out,

wes, by an adroit movement, having appropriated the best one--with a sigh of enjoyment. Run

hinking of the room they had left. "By t

t is. W

ep it. I do

, I shall get quite a nice collection o

Trevor, "this is

as rather funny when things happen to other people. When Mill's study was wrecked, I bet

rth can ha

Pre

rse it was. But who

about it's probably being Rand-Brown. He can't have done this, that's certain, because he was out in the fie

don't know much about him, bar the fact that he can't play foot

self. He isn't liked in

, this can't

what I

for some reason. You said they used to get their knife into fel

be a bad idea

*

r that he had not yet succeeded in finding the lost bat. He found Trevor and

noticing things. Trevor looked annoyed. Clowes asked the visitor if h

aphs, Trevor?" persisted th

oy," said Clowes. "Sit down, O'Hara--mind that chair

thing dark?" i

ed that tombs

at happened to Mill's study? Th

ll's study was only to be expected. Mill was one of the worst. A worm without a saving

o-?" he

," said Trevor, shortly. He did

been at Wrykyn, O

. His fingers twiddled in the a

last, leaning back exh

st remember

the League

t's been

a whi

lf. An' so has Moriarty. If it's anything like the Old League, there's going to be

w that. If you find ou

wil

"This business has got to be kept quiet. Kee

t tell

ven Mo

u don't want to kill the poor bhoy, su

, "you can tell Moriarty

oriarty should receive

d the Leagu

wn on me. It doesn't

t that bat. The search is being 'vigorously

inquire

le of letters. He inspected each envelope in turn

hat," h

local paper, and

ykyn, by an overwhelming majority, at the last election. Last Tuesday some youths of the town, passing through the Recreation Grounds early in the morning, noticed that the face and body of the statue were completely covered with leaves and some black substance, which on examination proved to be tar. They speedily lodged information at the police station. Everything seems to p

about 'our opponents' is all a blind to put you off your guard. You wait. Th

e bat, or why did they no

were you, I should escape while I could.

o pet

xtra

d in C

chaps coming o