ted him, however? The very boldness of his scheme carried
conviction with it! Certainly, Mr. Gideon Hayle was a foeman worthy of
my steel, and I began to realize that, with such a man to deal with, the
enterprise I had taken in hand was likely to prove a bigger affair than
I had bargained for.

"Having failed in both his attempts to get me out of the way, his next
move will be to leave England with as little delay as possible," I said
to myself. "If only I knew in what part of London he was staying, I'd
ransack it for him, if I had to visit every house in order to do so. As
it is, he has a thousand different ways of escape, and unless luck
favours me, I shall be unable to prevent him from taking his departure."

At that moment there was a tap at the door and my clerk entered the
room.

"Mr. Kitwater and Mr. Codd to see you, sir."

"Show them in," I said, and a moment later the blind man and his
companion were ushered into my presence.

Codd must have divined from the expression upon my face that I was not
pleased to see them.

"You must forgive me for troubling you again so soon," said Kitwater, as
he dropped into the chair I had placed for him, "but you can understand
that we are really anxious about the affair. Your letter tells us that
you discovered that Hayle was in London a short time since, and that he
had realized upon some of the stones. Is it not possible for you to
discover some trace of his whereabouts?"

"I have not been able to do that yet," I answered. "It will be of
interest to you, however, to know that he called upon me here in this
room, and occupied the chair you are now sitting in, three days ago."

Kitwater clutched the arm of the chair in question and his face went as
white as his beard.

"In this room three days ago, and sitting in your presence," he cried.
"Then you know where he is, and can take us to him?"

"I regret that such a thing is out of my power," I answered. "The man
came into and left this room without being hindered by me."

Kitwater sprang to his feet with an oath that struck me as coming rather
oddly from the lips of a missionary.

"I see it all. You are in league with him," he cried, his face suffused
with passion. "You are siding with him against us. By God you are, and
I'll have you punished for it. You hoodwinked us, you sold us. You've
taken our money, and now you've gone over and are acting for the enemy."

I opened the drawer of my table and took out the enve