Quick
sought for the graves of the Netherfields, he had a purpose."

Mr. Cazalette came nearer the table with his big volumes. It was very
evident that he had made some discovery and was anxious to tell us of
it.

"Before you go any further into that matter," said he, laying down his
burdens, "there are one or two things I should like to draw your
attention to in connection with what Middlebrook told us before I left
the room just a while since. Now about that monastic plate,
Middlebrook, of which you've seen the inventories--you may not be
aware of it, but there's a reference to that matter in Dryman's
'History of the Religious Foundations of Northumberland' which I will
now read to you. Hear you this, now:

"_Abbey of Forestburne._--It is well known that the altar
vessels, plate, and jewels of this house were considerable
in number and in value, but were never handed over to the
custodians of the King's Treasury House in London. They were
duly inventoried by the receivers in these parts, and there
are letters extant recording their dispatch to London. But
they never reached their destination, and it is commonly
believed that like a great deal more of the monastic
property of the Northern districts these valuables were
appropriated by high-placed persons of the neighbourhood who
employed their underlings, marked and disguised, to waylay
and despoil the messengers entrusted to carry them
Southward. N. B.--These foregoing remarks apply to the plate
and jewels which appertained to the adjacent Priory of
Mellerton, which were also of great value."

"So," continued Mr. Cazalette, "there's no doubt, in my mind, anyway,
that the plate of which Middlebrook saw the inventories is just what
they describe it to be, and that it came, in course of time, into the
hands of the Lord Forestburne who deposited it in yon bank. And now,"
he went on, opening the biggest of his volumes, "here's the file of a
local paper which your respected predecessor, Mr. Raven, had the good
sense to keep, and I've turned up the account of the inquest that was
held at Blyth on yon dishonest bank-manager. And there's a bit of
evidence here that nobody seems to have drawn Scarterfield's attention
to. 'The deceased gentleman,' it reads, 'was very fond of the sea, and
frequently made excursions along our beautiful coast in a small yacht
which he hired from Messrs. Capsticks, the