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THE STRAND MAGAZINE . 
capable of saying anything, “ is that of 
yours ? ” 
The little man began to dance about as if 
beside himself with excitement. The big man 
came a couple of feet nearer. He was a most 
indescribable object, looking as if he hadn’t 
washed for years, or brushed his hair, or 
shaved, or anything, and all the clothes he 
had on him would have been dear at sixpence. 
And his great, awful-looking hands ! Then, 
in spite of his looks, the way in which he 
spoke to us ! As if we were dirt beneath 
his feet. 
“ If I thought you ’ad come here to do 
what my mate says you ’ave, I’d twist your 
necks — the pair of them.” 
“ You dare,” I said, “ to touch us.” 
His companion urged him on. “ Twist ’er 
neck for ’er, Edwin. Twist both their necks. 
It wouldn’t take you long to do it, and no one 
wouldn’t blame you when it became known 
what kind they were.” 
“ It’s soiling my ’ands I’m a-thinking of, 
Joe.” He came still nearer. “ Look ’ere, 
my gal ; you answer my question. Is what 
my mate says true ? Did you come ’ere 
thinking to set fire to this ’ouse ? Out with 
it — out with it ! ” 
He held up his dreadful — I do not like 
to call them hands — with his horrible fingers 
stretched out wide, and moved them closer. 
1 did think they were going to take me by the 
throat, when, all of a sudden, Leila woke up, 
as it were, and she went at him. 
“ You dare to touch us ! ” she said, 
positively shouting, as if she w r cre beside 
herself with rage. “ I’ll throw my lamp 
in your face.” 
“ Will you ? We’ll see about that ! ” 
She raised her arm as if to throw it. He 
caught her by the wrist, and in an instant 
he had wrenched it from her. 
“ Now who talks about throwing lamps ? 
A good whipping’s wfu . you want, you to id- 
faced monkey ! Was you going to set fire 
to this ’ouse ? D’you hear ? Answer ! ” 
Her answer was to shriek. He was perhaps 
stronger than he thought, but anyhow he 
gave her wrist a jerk which made her shriek ; 
and while she was still shrieking the door 
opened, and there were two electric torches 
shining in at us. 
“ Halloa ! Halloa ! ” exclaimed a voice. 
You couldn’t see who was behind the torches, 
but I knew whose voice it was. “ What’s 
going on in here ? What’s all this ? ” 
Then another voice said — which Leila knew 
better than I did : “ Halloa, you, sir ! What 
are you doing with that young lady ? ” 
And Geoffrey MacNaughton came striding 
into the room. We could see it was Mr. 
MacNaughton, because Sam Griffith’s torch 
shone on him. The monster who held Leila 
turned towards him, not at all abashed. 
I’ll tell you what I was going to do to 
what you call this lady — if she is a lady, then 
save us from the likes of her 1 I was going to 
give her a hiding. ’Cause why ? ’Cause she 
came to set fire to this ’ere ’ouse, that’s why. 
And in petticoats, or out of petticoats, if 
anyone who goes in for games of that sort 
doesn't deserve a hiding, who does ? ” 
Geoffrey MacNaughton — positively ! - 
nearly agreed with him. 
“ There’s something in what you say, my 
friend. But as that ” — he hesitated — “ per- 
son has not set fire to the house, now, I think 
we might, so to speak, dismiss the subject 
from our minds. Here’s a sovereign for you, 
and another for your friend, to pay you, in 
some slight measure, for the trouble you have 
taken.” 
Geoffrey MacNaughton actually gave those 
wretches a sovereign apiece. When I got to 
Sam Griffiths, the young man said : — - 
“ There was nearly a tragedy outside. I 
came upon a tin — it looked like a sort of 
treacle tin, and as 1 was lighting a pipe) 
somehow a piece of string which was attached 
to the tin caught fire, and, do you know, 
almost immediately afterwards there was a 
frightful explosion, and if it had not been 
for the mercy of Providence, MacNaughton 
and I might have been blown to smithereens.” 
The way in which he looked at me when he 
said that 1 I could have hit him. 
Those young men took us back to Leila’s 
cottage in their motor-car. It had been all 
the while in a shed behind the house. As I 
had suspected, they had been keeping a 
watchful eye on our proceedings, and they had 
purloined our bicycles, the shavings, the petrol, 
the box of matches, the tin, and everything. 
Leila told me afterwards that she cried her- 
self to sleep. I never slept at all ; I was too 
mad. And to this hour I do not really under- 
stand how, the very next day, I told Sam 
Griffiths that I would marry him. And Leila 
is to be married on the same day as I am. i 
have announced over and over again that I 
do not believe in marriage ; but, somehow — 
well, there ! The very first present Sam 
Griffiths gave me — what do you think it was ? 
A brooch in the shape of a torch. I looked at 
him, but he was sufficiently prudent not to 
say a word. I nearly threw it away right in 
front of his face, but — I didn’t ; it was really 
such a beautiful piece of enamel. 
