ld abandon Mr. Gow to pursue his claim
without any assistance; but that was a solution which somehow or other
failed to appeal to me. In a sense he had become my retainer; and
we Lyndons are not given to deserting our retainers under any
circumstances. At least, I shouldn't exactly have liked to face my
father in another world with this particular weakness against my
record.

Altogether it was in a far from serene state of mind that I climbed
down into the dinghy, and allowed Mr. Gow to row me back to the bank.

"Will you be over tomorrow, sir?" he asked, as he stood up in the boat
ready to push off.

"I don't think so, I shall be rather busy the next two or three
days." Then I paused a moment. "Keep your eyes open generally, Mr.
Gow," I added; "and if any more gentlemen who have lost their way to
Tilbury come and ask you the name of the _Betty's_ owner, tell them
she belongs to the Bishop of London."

He touched his cap quite gravely. "Yessir," he said. "Good-night,
sir."

"Good-night, Mr. Gow," I replied, and scrambling up the bank, I set
off on my return journey.

CHAPTER XVIII

A NEW CLUE TO AN OLD CRIME

It was exactly half-past ten on Tuesday morning when I sat down on the
rough wooden bench in my workshop with a little gasp of relief and
exhaustion. Before me, on the lead slab, was a small pile of dark
brown powder, which an innocent stranger would in all probability have
taken for finely ground coffee. It was not coffee, however; it was the
fruit of four days and nights of about the most unremitting toil that
any human being has ever accomplished. Unless I was wrong--utterly and
hopelessly wrong--I had enough of the new explosive in front of me to
blow this particular bit of marsh and salting into the middle of next
week.

I leaned forward, and picking up a fistful, allowed it to trickle
slowly through my fingers. The stuff was quite safe to handle; that
was one of its beauties. I could have put a lighted match to it or
thrown it on the fire without the faintest risk; the only possible
method of releasing its appalling power being the explosion of a few
grains of gunpowder or dynamite in its immediate vicinity. I had no
intention of allowing that interesting event to occur until I had made
certain necessary preparations.

I was still contemplating my handiwork with a sort of fatigued pride,
when a sudden sound outside attracted my attention. Getting up and
looking through the shed window,