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to time as the younger man made his points.

ā€œAnd now, Mr. Quarterpage,ā€ concluded Spargo, ā€œthis is the point Iā€™ve come to. I believe that the man who came to the Anglo-Orient Hotel as John Marbury and who was undoubtedly murdered in Middle Temple Lane that night, was John Maitlandā ā€”I havenā€™t a doubt about it after learning what you tell me about the silver ticket. Iā€™ve found out a great deal thatā€™s valuable here, and I think Iā€™m getting nearer to a solution of the mystery. That is, of course, to find out who murdered John Maitland, or Marbury. What you have told me about the Chamberlayne affair has led me to think thisā ā€”there may have been people, or a person, in London, who was anxious to get Marbury, as weā€™ll call him, out of the way, and who somehow encountered him that nightā ā€”anxious to silence him, I mean, because of the Chamberlayne affair. And I wondered, as there is so much mystery about him, and as he wonā€™t give any account of himself, if this man Aylmore was really Chamberlayne. Yes, I wondered that! But Aylmoreā€™s a tall, finely-built man, quite six feet in height, and his beard, though itā€™s now getting grizzled, has been very dark, and Chamberlayne, you say, was a medium-sized, fair man, with blue eyes.ā€

ā€œThatā€™s so, sir,ā€ assented Mr. Quarterpage. ā€œYes, a middling-sized man, and fairā ā€”very fair. Deary me, Mr. Spargo!ā ā€”this is a revelation. And you really think, sir, that John Maitland and John Marbury are one and the same person?ā€

ā€œIā€™m sure of it, now,ā€ said Spargo. ā€œI see it in this way. Maitland, on his release, went out to Australia, and there he stopped. At last he comes back, evidently well-to-do. Heā€™s murdered the very day of his arrival. Aylmore is the only man who knows anything of himā ā€”Aylmore wonā€™t tell all he knows; thatā€™s flat. But Aylmoreā€™s admitted that he knew him at some vague date, say from twenty-one to twenty-two or three years ago. Now, where did Aylmore know him? He says in London. Thatā€™s a vague term. He wonā€™t say whereā ā€”he wonā€™t say anything definiteā ā€”he wonā€™t even say what he, Aylmore, himself was in those days. Do you recollect anything of anybody like Aylmore coming here to see Maitland, Mr. Quarterpage?ā€

ā€œI donā€™t,ā€ answered Mr. Quarterpage. ā€œMaitland was a very quiet, retiring fellow, sir: he was about the quietest man in the town. I never remember that he had visitors; certainly Iā€™ve no recollection of such a friend of his as this Aylmore, from your description of him, would be at that time.ā€

ā€œDid Maitland go up to London much in those days?ā€ asked Spargo.

Mr. Quarterpage laughed.

ā€œWell, now, to show you what a good memory I have,ā€ he said, ā€œIā€™ll tell you of something that occurred across there at the ā€˜Dragonā€™ only a few months before the Maitland affair came out. There were some of us in there one evening, and, for a rare thing, Maitland came in with Chamberlayne. Chamberlayne happened to remark that he was going up to town next dayā ā€”he was always to and froā ā€”and we got talking about London. And Maitland said in course of conversation, that he believed he was about the only man of his age in Englandā ā€”and, of course, he meant of his class and meansā ā€”whoā€™d never even seen London! And I donā€™t think he ever went there between that time and his trial: in fact, Iā€™m sure he didnā€™t, for if he had, I should have heard of it.ā€

ā€œWell, thatā€™s queer,ā€ remarked Spargo. ā€œItā€™s very queer. For Iā€™m certain Maitland and Marbury are one and the same person. My theory about that old leather box is that Maitland had that carefully planted before his arrest; that he dug it up when he came put of Dartmoor; that he took it off to Australia with him; that he brought it back with him; and that, of course, the silver ticket and the photograph had been in it all these years. Nowā ā€”ā€

At that moment the door of the library was opened, and a parlourmaid looked in at her master.

ā€œThereā€™s the boots from the ā€˜Dragonā€™ at the front door, sir,ā€ she said. ā€œHeā€™s brought two telegrams across from there for Mr. Spargo, thinking he might like to have them at once.ā€

XXI Arrested

Spargo hurried out to the hall, took the two telegrams from the boots of the ā€œDragon,ā€ and, tearing open the envelopes, read the messages hastily. He went back to Mr. Quarterpage.

ā€œHereā€™s important news,ā€ he said as he closed the library door and resumed his seat. ā€œIā€™ll read these telegrams to you, sir, and then we can discuss them in the light of what weā€™ve been talking about this morning. The first is from our office. I told you we sent over to Australia for a full report about Marbury at the place he said he hailed fromā ā€”Coolumbidgee. That reportā€™s just reached the Watchman, and theyā€™ve wired it on to me. Itā€™s from the chief of police at Coolumbidgee to the editor of the Watchman, London:ā ā€”

ā€œJohn Marbury came to Coolumbidgee in the winter of 1898ā ā€“ā 9. He was unaccompanied. He appeared to be in possession of fairly considerable means and bought a share in a small sheep-farm from its proprietor, Andrew Robertson, who is still here, and who says that Marbury never told him anything about himself except that he had emigrated for health reasons and was a widower. He mentioned that he had had a son who was dead, and was now without relations. He lived a very quiet, steady life on the sheep-farm, never leaving it for many years. About six months ago, however, he paid a visit to Melbourne, and on returning told Robertson that he had decided to return to England in consequence of some news he had received, and must therefore sell his share in the farm. Robertson bought it from him for three thousand pounds, and Marbury shortly afterwards left for Melbourne. From what we could gather, Robertson thinks Marbury was probably in

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