Capri, Ischia, the Great Museum, the King's Palace,
and dined together every evening. I had not been acquainted with the
girl much more than a fortnight, and yet I felt as if I had known her
all my life, and the greater my experience of her was, the better I
liked her. As for Leglosse, he outdid himself in his devotion. He made
the most extraordinary toilets in her honour, and on one occasion went
even so far as to inform me that, if all Englishwomen were like this
particular specimen, he would say good-bye to his beloved Paris, and
cross the Channel never to return again.

At last the eventful day arrived, and from nine till twelve we called
repeatedly at the office for the telegram that was to mean so much to
us. It was not, however, until the afternoon was well advanced that a
message was received. I could have taken my stick to the agent for the
slowness with which he opened the envelope. The clerk was called in, the
code translated, and the message presently transcribed.

"This, gentlemen," he said at last, pointing to the telegram, "is from
our agent in Port Said, and is as follows--

"Gifford, small man, grey hair, and wears spectacles. No scar on face,
cannot find first-class passenger with one. Fear you have been
deceived."

"Confound the fellow," I cried, "he's done us again. What's worse, we've
wasted four precious days waiting for this message. What shall we
do now?"

"Look for him elsewhere," said Leglosse. "If he didn't go by that boat,
he might have left by another."

We thanked the agent for his courtesy, and were about to leave the
office when another telegram was handed in. We waited to see whether it
was from the captain, and presently found that we were not destined to
be disappointed. Once more the agent consulted his code, transcribed the
message, and read it to us.

"Have interviewed Gifford, threatened him with the police for using
passage booked by another person. He confesses having been induced by
stranger such as you describe to accept passage Colombo. How shall
I act?"

"We've been done again," I cried, bringing my fist down with a thump
upon the table. "It's only another proof of Hayle's cleverness. The
ingenuous rascal books his passage here, knowing very well that it will
be one of the first places at which we shall make inquiries, lets fall a
'Gideon', and then transfers his ticket to somebody else. I suppose he
didn't bargain for my getting out of that house in time to follow