How Claudia managed to leave the office of Sergeant Purse and reach homo she never clearly knew. In some extraordinary way she contrived to keep from fainting and maintain her composure, so that the officer suspected nothing. After a time she complained that the room was close, and she felt that the fresh air would do her good. Purse, quite ignorant of the true cause of this unexpected nervousness, accompanied her outside and helped her to mount her bicycle in a most amiable way. As she rode off he thanked her for the suggestion she had made, and declared his intention of following the clue of the knife. All the way to Hedgerton Claudia thought over what she had done, and reached the Rectory in quite a fainting condition. Little Mrs. Craver met her at the door and ascribed her pale looks and nerveless limbs to the long ride. Claudia gladly accepted the excuse and the scolding and the order that she should lie down, as she wished to avert suspicion, and also to be alone to think over matters. Never in after years did the girl forget that next hour.

Lying on her bed, with her face pressed against the pillow, Claudia kept assuring herself that she was mistaken. It was sinful of her to suspect her father of such wickedness, and she deserved to be punished for even thinking of such a thing. But the question which agonised her was: What did this particular knife mean in relation to Wyke's death? There was only one answer to the question. The knife had been found sticking in Wyke's heart, and the man who thrust it into that same heart was the criminal. Her father was the man--her father was the criminal. Claudia remained all that evening in bed, and again Mrs. Craver ascribed the weakness to the exhausting ride on the bicycle to Redleigh.

All the long night she pondered and thought and reasoned, and cried out against her reason. When the dawn came she rose and took a cold bath, which refreshed her. There was no excuse for her to remain in bed for the day, so Claudia, wan and haggard, went down to breakfast. There she heard news which cheered her up.

"Edwin is coming here to-day in his aeroplane, my dear," said Mr. Craver, who was reading his letters. "He will be here at two o'clock this afternoon. What excitement this will cause in Hedgerton."

"I only hope Edwin won't break his neck," cried Mrs. Craver, wrathfully. "Oh, how foolish the rising generation is! There's nothing to hold on by in one of these airships, and if he falls he will be killed."

Naturally, the Rector, wishing to give the villagers pleasure, did not keep the news to himself. He told his wife to tell the servants, and the servants told everyone that came on that morning to the Rectory. By noon the whole of Hedgerton knew that Master Edwin was arriving in an airship, and great was the excitement. From what the young man had said in his letter it was known that he would alight on the cliffs, where there were vast spaces along which the aeroplane could run when it settled down like a bird. Consequently, long before two o'clock the coastguard station was surrounded by crowds people. In their anxiety to see the latest invention of science and to witness the conquest of the air by man, the whole population of the little village assembled on the cliffs. Claudia came also with the Rector and Mrs. Craver, who were both very anxious and very proud of the coming event. The girl glanced round to see if Lady Wyke was present, but could not see her. She did not even catch a glimpse of Neddy, and learnt later from his mother that the boy had returned to town on the previous day. Claudia drew a deep breath of relief at the news. She knew very well that Neddy could be trusted to be silent; yet it was a comfort to know that he was absent. Miss Lemby could not explain to herself why it was a comfort; but somehow she felt more at ease without this Puck in an Eton suit hovering round. And, as Lady Wyke was also conspicuous by her absence, Claudia abandoned herself to the general excitement of the coming arrival of Edwin from the skies.

"I do wish Edwin would come," said Mrs. Craver again and again as the hour drew near. "Do you think he has met with an accident, George?"

"Let us hope he hasn't, my dear," answered the Rector, who was likewise anxious. "But he is not due yet, so we have no reason to think that anything sad has happened!"

"There he is! There he is!" shouted a keen-sighted coastguard, who had a spyglass at his eye. "Yonder he comes."

"Where? Where? Where?" shouted everyone, much excited, and looked north, south, east and west without seeing anything.