of grains short."

"Surely you cannot rely on your hand to tell you that?"

His eyebrows went up as he felt in his pocket and produced a small
velvet-lined case containing a pair of scales. He was a decidedly
handsome young man, with dark intelligent eyes and a slightly scornful--
or shall I say ironical?--smile. I took particular note of the
steadiness of his hand as he adjusted the scales and weighed my guinea.

"To be precise," he announced, "1.898, or practically one and
nine-tenths short."

"I should have thought," said I, fairly astounded, "a lifetime too
little for acquiring such delicacy of sense!"

He seemed to ponder. "I dare say you are right, sir," he answered, and
was silent again until the business of payment was concluded.
While folding the receipt he added, "I am a connoisseur of coins, sir,
and not of their weight alone."

"Antique, as well as modern?"

"Certainly."

"In that case," said I, "you may be able to tell me something about
this": and going to my bureau I took out the brass plaque which Mr.
Pollard had detached from the planks of the church wall. "To be sure,
it scarcely comes within the province of numismatics."

He took the plaque. His brows contracted, and presently he laid it on
the table, drew my chair towards him in an absent-minded fashion, and,
sitting down, rested his brow on his open palms. I can recall the
attitude plainly, and his bent head, and the rain still glistening in
the waves of his black hair.

"Where did you find this?" he asked, but without looking up.

I told him. "The engraving upon it is singular. I thought that
possibly--"

"Oh, that," said he, "is simplicity itself. An eagle displayed, with
two heads, the legs resting on two gates, a crescent between, an
imperial crown surmounting--these are the arms of the Greek Empire, the
two gates are Rome and Constantinople. The question is, how it came
where you found it? It was covered with plaster, you say, and the
plaster whitewashed? Did you discover anything near it?"

Upon this I told him of the frescoes and charcoal drawings, and roughly
described them.

His fingers began to drum upon the table.

"Have you any documents which might tell us when the wall was first
plastered?"

"The parish accounts go back to 1594--here they are: the Registers to
1663 only. I keep them in the vestry. I can find no mention of
plastering, but the entries of expenditure on whitewashing occur
periodically,