"P'raps I was wrong, then. But I thought I heard that little dog of yours bark. I s'pose it wouldn't be, but that's what I thought...just when the engine started."

Mr. Ingles looked interested. "That settles it, then. We're going back to have another look round. This time we'll all go and chance leaving the bike. It will be too long to push her up the hill again... I don't like that woman... She talks too easy... Hope she thinks we're on our way home now..."

They left the motor-cycle at the side of the track and turned up the hill again. Tom, not nearly so tired as David, and feeling much more bored after his cold and lonely vigil in the side-car, hurried ahead with his uncle. David plodded along behind.

Mr. Ingles whispered under his breath, "Stand still and listen."

"I'm going to explore at the back," he breathed. "You two stay in front here and keep your ears open. Don't move far even if you hear anything, and I'll come back to you when I've explored."

When he had slipped away into the darkness the two boys crept nearer the front door.

"Are you sure about Mac, Tom?" David whispered.

Tom was shaking with excitement. "I'm not so sure now," he replied. "I hoped you'd hear him, too, but the bike was making such a din. P'raps I was only guessing, but it seemed as if it was that short bark of his, and it was sort of muffled."

When they got to the porch there was a slit of light showing from one of the windows and by bending down, they found that they could both get a restricted view. David went first and was so astonished at what he saw that he forgot Tom until he was prodded violently in the back and had to make room for him. The room into which they were spying was new to David, and although he could not see it all, his attention was held by three men standing round a table.