nothing was to be found.

Against the wall, near the fireplace, was a little escritoire with a
cupboard above it, containing a few battered books.

"My men have been all through that," Juve muttered; "it's most unlikely
that they missed anything, but perhaps I had better see."

He sat down before it and began methodically to sort the scattered
papers; with quick, trained glance he scanned each document, putting one
after another aside with a grimace expressive of disappointment. Almost
the last document he picked up was a long sheet of parchment, and as he
unfolded it an exclamation escaped his lips. It was an official notice
of Gurn's promotion to the rank of sergeant when fighting under Lord
Beltham in the South African War. Juve read it through--he knew English
well--and laid it down with a gesture of discouragement.

"It is extraordinary," he muttered. "That seems to be perfectly
authentic; it is authentic, and it proves that this fellow was a decent
fellow and a brave soldier once; that is a fine record of service." He
drummed his fingers on the desk and spoke aloud. "Is Gurn really Gurn,
then, and have I been mistaken from start to finish in the little
romance I have been weaving round him? How am I to find the key to the
mystery? How am I to prove the truth of what I feel to be so very close
to me, but which eludes me every time, just as I seem to be about to
grasp it?"

He went on with his search, and then, looking at the bookcase, took the
volumes out and, holding each by its two covers, shook it to make sure
that no papers were hidden among the leaves. But all in vain. He did the
same with a large railway time-table and several shipping calendars.

"The odd thing is," he thought, "that all these time-tables go to prove
that Gurn really was the commercial traveller he professed to be. It's
exactly things such as these one would expect to find in the possession
of a man who travelled much, and always had to be referring to the dates
of sailing to distant parts of the world."

In the bookcase was a box, made to represent a bound book, and
containing a collection of ordnance maps. Juve took them out to make
sure that no loose papers were included among them, and one by one
unfolded every map.

Then a sharp exclamation burst from his lips.

"Good Lord! Now there----"

In his surprise he sprang up so abruptly that he pushed back his chair,
and overturned it. His excitement was so great that his hands wer