w who its original owner
was. That is why I have come to Market Milcaster."

Mr. Quarterpage slowly looked round the circle of faces.

"Wonderful!" he said. "Wonderful! He found this ticket--one of our
famous fifty--in London, and under mysterious circumstances. He wants
to trace it--he wants to know to whom it belonged! That is why he has
come to Market Milcaster. Most extraordinary! Gentlemen, I appeal to
you if this is not the most extraordinary event that has happened in
Market Milcaster for--I don't know how many years?"

There was a general murmur of assent, and Spargo found everybody
looking at him as if he had just announced that he had come to buy the
whole town.

"But--why?" he asked, showing great surprise. "Why?"

"Why?" exclaimed Mr. Quarterpage. "Why? He asks--why? Because, young
gentleman, it is the greatest surprise to me, and to these friends of
mine, too, every man jack of 'em, to hear that any one of our fifty
tickets ever passed out of the possession of any of the fifty families
to whom they belonged! And unless I am vastly, greatly, most
unexplainably mistaken, young sir, you are not a member of any Market
Milcaster family."

"No, I'm not," admitted Spargo. And he was going to add that until the
previous evening he had never even heard of Market Milcaster, but he
wisely refrained. "No, I'm certainly not," he added.

Mr. Quarterpage waved his long pipe.

"I believe," he said, "I believe that if the evening were not drawing
to a close--it is already within a few minutes of our departure, young
gentleman--I believe, I say, that if I had time, I could, from memory,
give the names of the fifty families who held those tickets when the
race-meeting came to an end. I believe I could!"

"I'm sure you could!" asserted the little man in the loud suit. "Never
was such a memory as yours, never!"

"Especially for anything relating to the old racing matters," said the
fat man. "Mr. Quarterpage is a walking encyclopaedia."

"My memory is good," said Mr. Quarterpage. "It's the greatest blessing
I have in my declining years. Yes, I am sure I could do that, with a
little thought. And what's more, nearly every one of those fifty
families is still in the town, or if not in the town, close by it, or
if not close by it, I know where they are. Therefore, I cannot make out
how this young gentleman--from London, did you say, sir?"

"From London," answered Spargo.

"This young gentleman from London comes to be