appeared!"

Instantly Commander Bainbridge's face became grave indeed.

"Have you been out of the room, sir?" asked Bainbridge.

"Only once, and then, so the marine orderly at the door informs me,
no one entered here."

"This is serious!" cried the executive officer."

"Serious?" repeated Captain Gales in a harsh tone. "I should
say it was."

"Let us search the room thoroughly, sir," begged the executive
officer.

Though no search could have been more thorough, the missing envelope
was not found.

"Summon the officers---all of them---to meet me in the ward-room in
five minutes!" rasped Captain Gales.

And there every officer of the "_Long Island_" reported immediately.
After the doors had been closed Captain Gales announced the loss.
Blank faces confronted him on all sides.

"Has any officer any information to offer that can throw the least
light on thus matter?" demanded the Old Man, in a husky voice.

There was silence, broken at last by Lieutenant Cantor asking:

"May I make a suggestion, sir?"

"Certainly."

"How many officers, sir, visited your office after the time you
are certain of having seen the missing envelope on your desk?"

"Five," replied Captain Gales. "Lieutenant-Commander Denton,
Lieutenant-Commander Hansen, Lieutenant Holton, Lieutenant Trent
and yourself."

"Were there any enlisted men in your office, sir?"

"None since before the letter came aboard," replied Captain Gales.

"Then I would beg to suggest, sir," Lieutenant Cantor continued,
"that each of the five officers you have named, myself included,
request that their quarters be thoroughly searched. If the missing
envelope is not found in their quarters, then I would suggest
that the quarters of every other officer on board be searched."

To this there was a low murmur of approval. The executive officer
was instructed to take the chaplain, the surgeon and two other
officers beside himself, these five to form the searching committee.
In the meantime, the officers were to remain in the ward-room
or on the quarterdeck.

Dave, Dan and Trent seated themselves at the mess table. Time
dragged by. At last the searching committee, looking grave indeed,
returned.

"Is this the envelope, sir?" asked Commander Bainbridge, holding
it out.

"It is," replied Captain Gales, scanning it. "But the envelope
has now no contents."

"We found only the envelope, sir," replied Commander Bainbridge,
while his four helpers looked un