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in her mind was the belief that the princess had been carried off by the Socialists and foreigners.

"I never know whether they are thirteen or four-
teen. But I do know that nothing out of the com-
mon happens in the Deepings without their having a hand in it. I have the honor to be their uncle," said Sir Maurice.

"But they'd never be able to persuade her to run away with them. She's a timid child; and she has been coddled and cosseted all her life till she is deli-
cate to fragility," Miss Lambart protested.

"If it came to a matter of persuasion, my nephew would persuade the hind-leg, or perhaps even the fore-leg, off a horse," said Sir Maurice in a tone of deep conviction. "But it would not necessarily be a matter of persuasion."

"But what else could it be—children of thirteen or fourteen!" cried Miss Lambart.

"I assure you that it might quite easily have been force," said Sir Maurice seriously. "My nephew and niece are encamped on Deeping Knoll. It is honeycombed with dry sand-stone caves for the most part communicating with one another. I can conceive of nothing more likely than that the idea