hts which occur in the most carefully laid plans.
Unquestionably Doran would have told his employers what happened on the
night of the 27th and they could hardly have failed to guess the truth.
And yet, as private information assured him, not the smallest effort
had been made to rescue the man in whose brain was a secret worth
millions. And quite suddenly the truth, or a guess at the truth,
dawned upon him. Torrington's crowd must have been aware of the
intention to kidnap Barraclough and for a reason known only to
themselves had deliberately allowed it to take place. Why? Had
another man been sent in Barraclough's place? He dismissed that theory
without dissection. The shape of Barraclough's jaw and the line of his
mouth belonged to the type that does not unduly trust his fellow men.
Why? Was another man occupying Barraclough's place--deputising for him
in his absence?

Harrison Smith struck one hand against the other. "By God," he
exclaimed. "It's the most unlikely thing in the world but I'm going to
believe it. I'm going to believe that the chap with the humorous lines
round his eyes is no more Barraclough than I am."

He alighted at Waterloo Station aglow with excitement. His first
thought was to proceed post haste to Laurence's house and lay before
them the result of his deductions, but a second and more personal
consideration dissuaded him. There had been little enough
encouragement when last he interfered. He had been rudely ordered to
leave things alone. No, he would work out this deal himself and if
anything came of it approach Van Diest and Hipps for a lion's share of
the plunder. Weeks ago it had been arranged; if by any means
Barraclough succeeded in slipping through the outposts and obtaining
the concession, he was to be quietly thugged on his return and the
paper destroyed. As Ezra Hipps had said, "If we fail to get it for
ourselves it's damn sure no one else is going to profit." Wherefore
all he had to do was to intercept the returning treasure seeker, put
him securely away and then talk business to his own employers.

Harrison Smith hailed a taxi and told the driver to go down the
Commercial Road as far as the Poplar Town Hall. This was not a job
that could be tackled single handed--on the other hand it would be
unwise to admit more people to his confidence than were absolutely
necessary. He dismissed the taxi and proceeded on foot down one of the
narrow crooked byways abounding in