FIREARMS In the middle of the night Virginia was awakened by the sound of a revolver shot.

She put on her dressing-gown, and, with an electric torch in her hand, started to descend the stairs.

The house was already, however, a blaze of light.

Electric alarm bells were ringing, and servants were hurrying toward the library.

The man Leverson was sitting in an easy-chair, with an ugly gash across the temple, and one of his men had a revolver wound through the shoulder.