ers contained was
this:

"'Acting on certain information received, the police to-day forced an
entrance into one of the rooms of Russell House, a high-class furnished
apartment on the King's Parade, and there they discovered our missing
distinguished townsman, Mr. Francis Morton, who had been robbed and
subsequently locked up in that room since Wednesday, the 17th. When
discovered he was in the last stages of inanition; he was tied into an
arm-chair with ropes, a thick wool shawl had been wound round his mouth,
and it is a positive marvel that, left thus without food and very
little air, the unfortunate gentleman survived the horrors of these four
days of incarceration.

"'He has been conveyed to his residence in Sussex Square, and we are
pleased to say that Doctor Mellish, who is in attendance, has declared
his patient to be out of serious danger, and that with care and rest he
will be soon quite himself again.

"'At the same time our readers will learn with unmixed satisfaction that
the police of our city, with their usual acuteness and activity, have
already discovered the identity and whereabouts of the cowardly ruffian
who committed this unparalleled outrage.'"

CHAPTER XXV

THE PRISONER

"I really don't know," continued the man in the corner blandly, "what it
was that interested me in the case from the very first. Certainly it had
nothing very out of the way or mysterious about it, but I journeyed down
to Brighton nevertheless, as I felt that something deeper and more
subtle lay behind that extraordinary assault, following a robbery, no
doubt.

"I must tell you that the police had allowed it to be freely circulated
abroad that they held a clue. It had been easy enough to ascertain who
the lodger was who had rented the furnished room in Russell House. His
name was supposed to be Edward Skinner, and he had taken the room about
a fortnight ago, but had gone away ostensibly for two or three days on
the very day of Mr. Morton's mysterious disappearance. It was on the
20th that Mr. Morton was found, and thirty-six hours later the public
were gratified to hear that Mr. Edward Skinner had been traced to London
and arrested on the charge of assault upon the person of Mr. Francis
Morton and of robbing him of the sum of L10,000.

"Then a further sensation was added to the already bewildering case by
the startling announcement that Mr. Francis Morton refused to prosecute.

"Of course, the Treasury took up