, asked sensible questions, which
Sir Thomas and Lady Bolivick, both of whom had come into the room,
answered readily. Although he did not speak to me, he doubtless
noticed how interested I was in his patient, and more than once I saw
that he looked at me questioningly.

'I admit I am baffled,' he said at length.

I took this as a good sign as far as he was concerned; anyhow, he was
not a man who professed to be wise, while he was in actual ignorance.

'I gather from what you say,' he went on, speaking to Sir Thomas, 'that
Captain Luscombe knows most about him.'

'That is so, Merril,' replied Sir Thomas. 'I have explained to you the
circumstances under which he came here.'

'That being so,' and the doctor spoke very gravely, 'I think it would
be best for you all to leave me, except Captain Luscombe.'

'There is something here beneath the surface,' said Dr. Merril when we
were alone, 'something which I cannot grasp. Can you help me?
Evidently you have been thinking a great deal.'

'I have,' I replied.

'As far as I can judge, he has sufficient vitality to keep him alive
for a few hours. I should judge him to be a man of remarkable
constitution and great physical strength.'

'You are quite right there. His power of endurance is extraordinary.'

'What I can't understand,' said the doctor, 'is that there is no
apparent cause for this, and yet there is some force of which I am
ignorant undermining the very citadel of his life. I have never met
such a case before, and unless help comes, he will die in less than
twelve hours. I am speaking to you quite frankly, Captain Luscombe;
from what I know of you, you are quite aware of the limitations of a
medical man's power, and my experience during the time I have lived in
this district has not been of a nature to help me in such a case as
this. Will you tell me what you know of your friend?'

As briefly as I could, I gave an outline of what I have written in
these pages, while the doctor, without asking a single question,
listened intently.

'You say he does not drink?' he asked, when I had finished. 'He gives
not the slightest evidence of it, but it is necessary for me to know.'

'Intoxicants have not passed his lips for more than a year,' I replied.

'And his food?'

I detailed to him the food which Edgecumbe had eaten since he came to
the house, and which he had partaken of in common with the rest of the
members of the household.

'And you have been w