Austen," he said, "I am not at all sure that I have not brought you
up on rather a fool's errand, but you seemed rather mystified yourself
about these Deloras. Here's the cable from Dicky. What do you make of
it? Must have cost him something, extravagant young beggar!"

He passed it across to me. I read it out aloud.

DELORA HERE PUZZLED NOT HEARING FROM BROTHER
SHOULD BE IN LONDON IMPORTANT BUSINESS FEARS
SOMETHING WRONG ALL CODED CABLES REMAIN UNANSWERED
INQUIRE MILAN HOTEL IF POSSIBLE FIND
DELORA BEG HIM CABLE AT ONCE IN CHALDEAN CODE.

I read the cable through three times.

"May I take this, Ralph?" I said. "I will go round to the Milan at
once."

"Certainly," Ralph answered. "I will leave the matter entirely in your
hands. It seems as though there were something queer about it."

"There is something queer going on, Ralph," I assured him. "I have
found out as much as that myself. Exactly what it means I can't
fathom. To tell you the truth, it has been taking a lot of my time
lately, and I know very little more than when I started."

"It's the young lady, I suppose," Ralph remarked thoughtfully.

I nodded.

"I am not over keen about interfering in other people's concerns,
Ralph," I said. "You know that. It's the girl, of course, and I am
afraid, I am very much afraid, that there is something wrong."

"Anyhow," Ralph said, "it doesn't follow that the girl's in it."

"I am jolly certain she isn't!" I said. "What bothers me, of course,
is that I hate to think of her being mixed up with anything shady. The
Deloras may be great people in their own country, but I'll swear that
our friend here is a wrong 'un."

"I suppose you are sure," Ralph said thoughtfully, "that he is
Delora--that he is not an impostor, I mean?"

"I thought of that," I answered, "but you see there's the girl. She'd
know her own uncle, wouldn't she? And she told me that she had seen
him on and off for years. No, he is Delora right enough! One can't
tell," I continued. "Perhaps the whole thing's crooked. Perhaps the
Deloras who seem to Dicky such charming people in their own country
are a different sort of people on this side. At any rate, I'm off,
Ralph, with that cable. I'll look you up as soon as I have found out
anything."

Ralph smiled.

"I don't believe," he said, "you are sorry to have an excuse for
having another turn at this affair."

"Perhaps not," I answered.

"Take the car," Ralph called out after me