f would have been regular and decorous
almost to the point of monotony. We were all engaged in our respective
avocations--Mr. Cazalette with his coins and medals; I with my books
and papers; Mr. Raven with his steward, his gardeners, and his various
potterings about the estate; Miss Raven with her flowers and her golf.
Certainly there was relaxation--and in taking it, we sorted out each
other. Mr. Raven and Mr. Cazalette made common cause of an afternoon;
they were of that period of life--despite the gulf of twenty years
between them--when lounging in comfortable chairs under old cedar
trees on a sunlit lawn is preferable to active exercise; Miss Raven
and I being younger, found our diversion in golf and in occasional
explorations of the surrounding country. She had a touch of the
nomadic instinct in her; so had I; the neighbourhood was new to both;
we began to find great pleasure in setting out on some excursion as
soon as lunch was over and prolonging our wanderings until the falling
shadows warned us that it was time to make for home. What these
pilgrimages led to--in more ways than one--will eventually appear.

We heard nothing of Scarterfield, the detective, nor of Wing, pressed
into his service, for some days after the consultation in Mr. Raven's
dining-room. Then, as we were breakfasting one morning, the post-bag
was brought in, and Mr. Raven, opening it, presently handed me a
letter in an unfamiliar handwriting, the envelope of which bore the
post-mark Blyth. I guessed, of course, that it was from Scarterfield,
and immediately began to wonder what on earth made him write to me.
But there it was--he had written, and here is what he wrote:

"NORTH SEA HOTEL,

"BLYTH, NORTHUMBERLAND

"April 23, 1912

"_Dear Sir:_

"You will remember that when we were discussing matters the
other night round Mr. Raven's table I mentioned that I
intended visiting this town in order to make some inquiries
about the man Netherfield who was with the brothers Quick on
the _Elizabeth Robinson_. I have been here two days, and I
have made some very curious discoveries. And I am now
writing to ask you if you could so far oblige and help me in
my investigations as to join me here for a day or two, at
once? The fact is, I want your assistance--I underst