about half past two
They were expecting Wiggins in the afternoon . But he could be admitted safely into the secret , since , once he knew that the princess had become Lady Rowington , he would be able with sufficient truthfulness to profess an entire ignorance of her whereabouts . Also he would be very useful , for he could bring them word if suspicion had fallen on them . At about half past two he arrived , bringing a great tale of the excitement of the countryside at the kidnaping of the princess . So far its simple-minded inhabitants and the suite of the princess were content with the socialist explanation of her disappearance ; and three counties round were being searched by active policemen on bicycles for some one who had seen a suspicious motor-car containing Socialists and a princess . It was the general belief that she had been chloroformed and abducted through her bedroom window . With admirable gravity the Twins discussed with Wiggins the probabilities of their success and of the recovery of the princess , the routes by which the Socialists might have carried her off , and the towns in which the lair to which they had taken her might be .