llect of! And now here's been three gentlemen asking for him within
this last hour--you two and another gentleman. And I don't know where
Mr. Burchill lives, and don't want, neither!"

"My dear lady!" said Mr. Halfpenny, mildly and suavely. "I am sure we are
deeply sorry to disturb you--no doubt we have called you away from your
dinner. Perhaps, er, this"--here there was a slight chink of silver in
Mr. Halfpenny's hand, presently repeated in one of the landlady's--"will,
er, compensate you a little? But we are really anxious to see Mr.
Burchill--haven't you any idea where he's gone to live? Didn't he
leave an address for any letters that might come here?"

"He didn't, sir--not that he ever had many letters," answered the
landlady. "And I haven't the remotest notion. Of course, if I had I'd
give the address. But, as I said to the gentleman what was here not so
long ago, I've neither seen nor heard of Mr. Burchill since he left--and
that's six months since."

Mr. Halfpenny contrived to give his companion a nudge of the elbow.

"Is it, indeed, ma'am?" he said. "Ah! That gentleman who called, now?--I
think he must be a friend of ours, who didn't know we were coming. What
was he like, now, ma'am?"

"He was a tallish, fine-built gentleman," answered the landlady.
"Fresh-coloured, clean-shaved gentleman. And for that matter, he can't
be so far away--it isn't more than a quarter of an hour since he was
here. I'll ask my girl if she saw which way he went."

"Don't trouble, pray, ma'am, on my account," entreated Mr. Halfpenny.
"It's of no consequence. We're deeply obliged to you." He swept off his
hat in an old-fashioned obeisance and drew Mr. Tertius away to the coupe
brougham. "That was Barthorpe, of course," he said. "He lost no time,
you see, Tertius, in trying to see Burchill."

"Why should he want to see Burchill?" asked Mr. Tertius.

"Wanted to know what Burchill had to say about signing the will, of
course," replied Mr. Halfpenny. "Well--what next? Do you want me to see
Cox-Raythwaite with you?"

Mr. Tertius, who had seemed to be relapsing into a brown study on the
edge of the pavement, woke up into some show of eagerness. "Yes, yes!"
he said. "Yes, by all means let us go to Cox-Raythwaite. I'm sure that's
the thing to do. And there's another man--the chauffeur. But--yes, we'll
go to Cox-Raythwaite first. Tell your man to drive to the corner of
Endsleigh Gardens--the corner by St. Pancras Church."

Professor Co