ourse, had I but known I could have forbidden her departure. But as
her owner had presented himself at the Consulate, and was recognized as
a respectable person, I felt that I could not interfere without some
tangible information--and that, alas! has come too late. The vessel is
a swift one, and has already seven hours start of us. I've asked the
Admiral to send out a couple of torpedo-boats after her, but,
unfortunately, this is impossible, as the flotilla is sailing in an hour
to attend the naval review at Spezia."

I told him how the Consul's safe had been opened during the night, and
he sat listening with wide-open eyes.

"You dined with them last night," he said at last. "They may have
surreptitiously stolen your keys."

"They may," was my answer. "Probably they did. But with what motive?"

The Captain of the Port elevated his shoulders, exhibited his palms, and
declared--

"The whole affair from beginning to end is a complete and profound
mystery."

CHAPTER II

WHY THE SAFE WAS OPENED

That day was an active one in Questura, or police office, of Leghorn.

Detectives called, examined the safe, and sagely declared it to be
burglar-proof, had not the thieves possessed the key. The Foreign Office
knew that, for they supply all the safes to the Consulates abroad, in
order that the precious ciphers shall be kept from the prying eyes of
foreign spies. The Questore, or chief of police, was of opinion that it
was the ciphers of which the thieves had been in search, and was much
relieved to hear that they were in safekeeping far away in Downing
Street.

His conjecture was the same as my own, namely, that the reason of
Hornby's call upon me was to ascertain the situation of the Consulate
and the whereabouts of the safe, which, by the way, stood in a corner of
the Consul's private room. Captain Mackintosh, too, had taken his
bearings, and probably while I sat at dinner on board the _Lola_ my keys
had been stolen and passed on to the scarred Scotsman, who had promptly
gone ashore and ransacked the place while I had remained with his master
smoking and unsuspicious.

But what was the motive? Why had they ransacked all those confidential
papers?

My own idea was that they were not in search of the ciphers at all, but
either wanted some blank form or other, or else they desired to make use
of the Consular seal. The latter, however, still remained on the floor
near the safe, as though it had rolled out and