At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement
For a minute or more the hand, with its writhing fingers,
protruded out of the floor
Then it was withdrawn as suddenly as it
appeared, and all was dark again save the single lurid spark which
marked a chink between the stones
Its disappearance, however, was but momentary
With a rending, tearing
sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon its side and
left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed the light of a
lantern
In another instant he stood at the side of the
hole and was hauling after him a companion, lithe and small like
himself, with a pale face and a shock of very red hair
“Have you the chisel and the bags
Jump, Archie, jump, and I’ll swing for it!”

Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar
The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth
as Jones clutched at his skirts
The light flashed upon the barrel of a
revolver, but Holmes’ hunting crop came down on the man’s wrist, and
the pistol clinked upon the stone floor
“It’s no use, John Clay,” said Holmes blandly
“You have no chance at
all.”

“So I see,” the other answered with the utmost coolness
“I fancy that
my pal is all right, though I see you have got his coat-tails.”

“There are three men waiting for him at the door,” said Holmes
You seem to have done the thing very completely
I must
compliment you.”

“And I you,” Holmes answered
“Your red-headed idea was very new and
effective.”

“You’ll see your pal again presently,” said Jones
“He’s quicker at
climbing down holes than I am
Just hold out while I fix the derbies.”

“I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands,” remarked our
prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists
“You may not be
aware that I have royal blood in my veins
Have the goodness, also,
when you address me always to say ‘sir’ and ‘please.’”

“All right,” said Jones with a stare and a snigger
“Well, would you
please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry your
Highness to the police-station?”

“That is better,” said John Clay serenely
He made a sweeping bow to
the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the detective
Merryweather as we followed them from
the cellar, “I do not know how the bank can thank you or repay you
It was a curious way of
managing it, but, really, it would be difficult to suggest a better
The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious mind by the
colour of his accomplice’s hair
The £ 4 a week was a lure which must
draw him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands
They
put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary office, the other
rogue incites the man to apply for it, and together they manage to
secure his absence every morning in the week
That, however, was out of the question
The man’s
business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which
could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure
as they were at
It must, then, be something out of the house
I thought of the assistant’s fondness for photography, and
his trick of vanishing into the cellar
There was the end
of this tangled clue
Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious
assistant and found that I had to deal with one of the coolest and most
daring criminals in London
He was doing something in the
cellar—something which took many hours a day for months on end
I could think of nothing save that he was
running a tunnel to some other building
“So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action
I
surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick
I was
ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind
Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the assistant
answered it
We have had some skirmishes, but we had never set eyes
upon each other before
His knees were
what I wished to see
You must yourself have remarked how worn,
wrinkled, and stained they were
They spoke of those hours of
burrowing
The only remaining point was what they were burrowing for
I
walked round the corner, saw the City and Suburban Bank abutted on our
friend’s premises, and felt that I had solved my problem
“Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that they
cared no longer about Mr
Jabez Wilson’s presence—in other words, that
they had completed their tunnel
But it was essential that they should
use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the bullion might be
removed
Saturday would suit them better than any other day, as it
would give them two days for their escape
For all these reasons I
expected them to come to-night.”

“You reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed in unfeigned admiration