been the principal one at L---- when Sir Philip left England, though now
outrivalled by the new and more central establishment in which Margrave
was domiciled.

The primary and natural supposition was that Sir Philip had been
murdered for the sake of plunder; and this supposition was borne out by
the fact to which his valet deposed, namely,--

That Sir Philip had about his person, on going to the mayor's house, a
purse containing notes and sovereigns; and this purse was now missing.

The valet, who, though an Albanian, spoke English fluently, said that
the purse had a gold clasp, on which Sir Philip's crest and initials
were engraved. Sir Philip's watch was, however, not taken.

And now, it was not without a quick beat of the heart that I heard
the valet declare that a steel casket, to which Sir Philip attached
extraordinary value, and always carried about with him, was also
missing.

The Albanian described this casket as of ancient Byzantine workmanship,
opening with a peculiar spring, only known to Sir Philip, in whose
possession it had been, so far as the servant knew, about three years:
when, after a visit to Aleppo, in which the servant had not accompanied
him, he had first observed it in his master's hands. He was asked if
this casket contained articles to account for the value Sir Philip set
on it,--such as jewels, bank-notes, letters of credit, etc. The man
replied that it might possibly do so; he had never been allowed the
opportunity of examining its contents; but that he was certain the
casket held medicines, for he had seen Sir Philip take from it some
small phials, by which he had performed great cures in the East, and
especially during a pestilence which had visited Damascus, just after
Sir Philip had arrived at that city on quitting Aleppo. Almost every
European traveller is supposed to be a physician; and Sir Philip was a
man of great benevolence, and the servant firmly believed him also to be
of great medical skill. After this statement, it was very naturally
and generally conjectured that Sir Philip was an amateur disciple of
homoeopathy, and that the casket contained the phials or globules in use
among homoeopathists.

Whether or not Mr. Vigors enjoyed a vindictive triumph in making me feel
the weight of his authority, or whether his temper was ruffled in the
excitement of so grave a case, I cannot say, but his manner was stern
and his tone discourteous in the questions which he addressed to me