'He'll be all right,' said the Superintendent. 'Don't you worry. As many lives as cats, these young fellows. It wasn't the loss of blood knocked him out either. He must have caught his head a crack on the floor as he fell.'
Outside the knocking on the door had become tremendous. The voice of George Lomax, furiously upraised, came loud and distinct:
'Who is in there? Open the door at once.'
Superintendent Battle sighed.
'I suppose we shall have to,' he said. 'A pity.'
His eyes darted round, taking in the scene. An automatic lay by Jimmy's side. The Superintendent picked it up gingerly, holding it very delicately, and examined it. He grunted and laid it on the table. Then he stepped across and unlocked the door.
Several people almost fell into the room. Nearly everybody said something at the same minute. George Lomax, spluttering with obdurate words which refused to come with sufficient fluency, exclaimed:
'The – the – the meaning of this? Ah! It's you. Superintendent, what's happened? I say – what has – happened?'
Bill Eversleigh said: 'My God! Old Jimmy!' and stared at the limp figure on the ground.
Lady Coote, clad in a resplendent purple dressing gown, cried out: 'The poor boy!' and swept past Superintendent Battle to bend over the prostrate Jimmy in a motherly fashion.
Bundle said: 'Loraine!'
Herr Eberhard said: 'Gott im Himmel!' and other words of that nature.
Sir Stanley Digby said: 'My God, what's all this?'
A housemaid said: 'Look at the blood,' and screamed with pleasureable excitement.
A footman said: 'Lor!'
The butler said, with a good deal more bravery in his manner than had been noticeable a few minutes earlier: 'Now then, this won't do!' and waved away under-servants.
The efficient Mr. Rupert Bateman said to George: 'Shall we get rid of some of these people, sir?'
Then they all took fresh breath.
'Incredible!' said George Lomax. ' Battle , what has happened?'
Battle gave him a look, and George's discreet habits assumed their usual sway.
'Now then,' he said, moving to the door, 'everyone go back to bed, please. There's been a – er –'
'A little accident,' said Superintendent Battle easily.
'A – er – an accident. I shall be much obliged if everyone will go back to bed.'
Everyone was clearly reluctant to do so.
'Lady Coote – please –'
'The poor boy,' said Lady Coote in a motherly fashion.
She rose from a kneeling position with great reluctance. And as she did so, Jimmy stirred and sat up.
'Hallo!' he said thickly. 'What's the matter?'
He looked round him vacantly for a minute or two and then intelligence returned to his eye.
'Have you got him?' he demanded eagerly.
'Got who?'
'The man. Climbed down the ivy. I was by the window there. Grabbed him and we had no end of a set-to –'
'One of those nasty, murderous cat burglars,' said Lady Coote. 'Poor boy.'
Jimmy was looking round him.
'I say – I'm afraid we – er – have made rather a mess of things. Fellow was as strong as an ox and we went fairly waltzing around.'
The condition of the room was clear proof of this statement. Everything light and breakable within a range of twelve feet that could be broken had been broken.
'And what happened then?'
But Jimmy was looking round for something.
'Where's Leopold? The pride of the bluenosed automatics?'
Battle indicated the pistol on the table.
'Is this yours, Mr. Thesiger?'
'That's right. That's little Leopold. How many shots have been fired?'
'One shot.'
Jimmy looked chagrined.
'I'm disappointed in Leopold,' he murmured. 'I can't have pressed the button properly, or he'd have gone on shooting.'
'Who shot first?'
'I did, I'm afraid,' said Jimmy. 'You see, the man twisted himself out of my grasp suddenly. I saw him making for the window and I closed my finger down on Leopold and let him have it. He turned in the window and fired at me and – well, I suppose after that I took the count.'
He rubbed his head rather ruefully.
But Sir Stanley Digby was suddenly alert.
'Climbing down the ivy, you said? My God, Lomax, you don't think they've got away with it?'
He rushed from the room. For some curious reason nobody spoke during his absence. In a few minutes Sir Stanley returned. His round, chubby face was white as death.
'My God, Battle ,' he said, 'they've got it. O'Rourke's fast asleep – drugged, I think. I can't wake him. And the papers have vanished.'
Chapter 21
THE RECOVERY OF THE FORMULA
'Der liebe Gott!' said Herr Eberhard in a whisper.
His face had gone chalky white.
George turned a face of dignified reproach on Battle .
'Is this true, Battle ? I left all arrangements in your hands.'
The rock-like quality of the Superintendent showed out well. Not a muscle of his face moved.
'The best of us are defeated sometimes, sir,' he said quietly.
'Then you mean – you really mean – that the document is gone?'
But to everyone's intense surprise Superintendent Battle shook his head.
'No, no, Mr. Lomax, it's not so bad as you think. Everything's all right. But you can't lay the credit for it at my door. You've got to thank this young lady.'
He indicated Loraine, who stared at him in surprise. Battle stepped across to her and gently took the brown paper parcel which she was still clutching mechanically.
'I think, Mr. Lomax,' he said, 'that you will find what you want here.'
Sir Stanley Digby, quicker in action than George, snatched at the package and tore it open, investigating its contents eagerly. A sigh of relief escaped him and he mopped his brow. Herr Eberhard fell upon the child of his brain and clasped it to his heart, whilst a torrent of German burst from him.
Sir Stanley turned to Loraine, shaking her warmly by the hand.
'My dear young lady,' he said, 'we are infinitely obliged to you, I am sure.'
'Yes, indeed,' said George. 'Though I – er –'
He paused in some perplexity, staring at a young lady who was a total stranger to him.
Loraine looked appealingly at Jimmy, who came to the rescue.
'Er – this is Miss Wade,' said Jimmy. 'Gerald Wade's sister.'
'Indeed,' said George, shaking her warmly by the hand. 'My dear Miss Wade, I must express my deep gratitude to you for what you have done. I must confess that I do not quite see –'
He paused delicately and four of the persons present felt that explanations were going to be fraught with
