were traced as far as Truro, and were known to be in hiding in
Cornwall.

Just at this time it happened that Henry Melville and Fred Wilson were
away together on a walking tour round the Cornish coast. Like most
people, they were interested in the case; and one morning, while at
breakfast at a little inn, they learnt that the absconding men had been
tracked to that very neighbourhood, and that a strong cordon of police
had been drawn round the district, making an escape very improbable. In
fact, an inspector and a constable came into the inn to make some
inquiries, and exchanged civilities with the two members of the Puzzle
Club. A few references to some of the leading London detectives, and the
production of a confidential letter Melville happened to have in his
pocket from one of them, soon established complete confidence, and the
inspector opened out.

He said that he had just been to examine a very important clue a quarter
of a mile from there, and expressed the opinion that Messrs. Lamson and
Marsh would never again be found alive. At the suggestion of Melville the
four men walked along the road together.

"There is our stile in the distance," said the inspector. "This constable
found beside it the pocket-book that I have shown you, containing the
name of Marsh and some memoranda in his handwriting. It had evidently
been dropped by accident. On looking over the stone stile he noticed the
footprints of two men--which I have already proved from particulars
previously supplied to the police to be those of the men we want--and I
am sure you will agree that they point to only one possible conclusion."

Arrived at the spot, they left the hard road and got over the stile. The
footprints of the two men were here very clearly impressed in the thin
but soft soil, and they all took care not to trample on the tracks. They
followed the prints closely, and found that they led straight to the edge
of a cliff forming a sheer precipice, almost perpendicular, at the foot
of which the sea, some two hundred feet below, was breaking among the
boulders.

[Illustration]

"Here, gentlemen, you see," said the inspector, "that the footprints lead
straight to the edge of the cliff, where there is a good deal of
trampling about, and there end. The soil has nowhere been disturbed for
yards around, except by the footprints that you see. The conclusion is
obvious."

"That, knowing they were unable to escape capture, they decided not to b