lity broke full upon
me. I felt that I was combating against forces of which I knew nothing.
All was strange and dark and terrible.

"The thought of you, and of the help which I might look for from your
advice and assistance, was a beacon of hope to me. At Branksome, at
least, I should receive sympathy, and, above all, directions as to what
I should do, for my mind is in such a whirl that I cannot trust my own
judgment. My mother was content to be alone, my sister asleep, and
no prospect of being able to do anything until daybreak. Under those
circumstances what more natural than that I should fly to you as fast as
my feet would carry me? You have a clear head, Jack; speak out, man, and
tell me what I should do. Esther, what should I do?"

He turned from one to the other of us with outstretched hands and eager,
questioning eyes.

"You can do nothing while the darkness lasts," I answered. "We must
report the matter to the Wigtown police, but we need not send our
message to them until we are actually starting upon the search, so as to
comply with the law and yet have a private investigation, as your mother
wishes. John Fullarton, over the hill, has a lurcher dog which is as
good as a bloodhound. If we set him on the general's trail he will run
him down if he had to follow him to John o' Groat's."

"It is terrible to wait calmly here while he may need our assistance."

"I fear our assistance could under any circumstances do him little
good. There are forces at work here which are beyond human intervention.
Besides, there is no alternative. We have, apparently, no possible
clue as to the direction which they have taken, and for us to wander
aimlessly over the moor in the darkness would be to waste the strength
which may be more profitably used in the morning. It will be daylight
by five o'clock. In an hour or so we can walk over the hill together and
get Fullarton's dog."

"Another hour!" Mordaunt groaned, "every minute seems an age."

"Lie down on the sofa and rest yourself," said I. "You cannot serve your
father better than by laying up all the strength you can, for we may
have a weary trudge before us. But you mentioned a packet which the
general had intended for me."

"It is here," he answered, drawing a small, flat parcel from his pocket
and handing it over to me, "you will find, no doubt, that it will
explain all which has been so mysterious."

The packet was sealed at each end with black wax, bearing the im