e, and I cannot imagine him capable of so much
initiative as systematically to forge checks and falsify ledgers. I
merely mention Jasper because I want to emphasize the injustice of
putting any man under suspicion unless you have the strongest and most
convincing proof of his guilt. To declare my innocence is unnecessary
from my point of view, and probably from yours also; but I declare to
you, Uncle John, that I know no more about this matter than you."

He stood leaning on the desk and looking down at his uncle; and John
Minute, with all his experience of men, and for all his suspicions, felt
just a twinge of remorse. It was not to last long, however.

"I shall expect you to-morrow," he said.

Frank nodded, walked out of the room and out of the bank, and
twenty-four pairs of speculative eyes followed him.

A few hours later another curious scene was being enacted, this time
near the town of East Grinstead. There is a lonely stretch of road
across a heath, which is called, for some reason, Ashdown Forest. A car
was drawn up on a patch of turf by the side of the heath. Its owner was
sitting in a little clearing out of view of the road, sipping a cup of
tea which his chauffeur had made. He finished this and watched his
servant take the basket.

"Come back to me when you have finished," he said.

The man touched his hat and disappeared with the package, but returned
again in a few minutes.

"Sit down, Feltham," said Mr. Rex Holland. "I dare say you think it was
rather strange of me to give you that little commission the other day,"
said Mr. Holland, crossing his legs and leaning back against a tree.

The chauffeur smiled uncomfortably.

"Yes, sir, I did," he said shortly.

"Were you satisfied with what I gave you?" asked the man.

The chauffeur shuffled his feet uneasily.

"Quite satisfied, sir," he said.

"You seem a little distrait, Feltham; I mean a little upset about
something. What is it?"

The man coughed in embarrassed confusion.

"Well, sir," he began, "the fact is, I don't like it."

"You don't like what? The five hundred pounds I gave you?"

"No, sir. It is not that, but it was a queer thing to ask me to
do--pretend to be you and send a commissionaire to the bank for your
money, and then get away out of London to a quiet little hole like
Bilstead."

"So you think it was queer?"

The chauffeur nodded.

"The fact is, sir," he blurted out, "I've seen the papers."

The other nodded thought