p." I filled her glass, and when the bottle had made its
circuit, we stood up and solemnly pledged the new alliance.

"There is just one thing I would say before we dismiss the subject for
the present," said Thorndyke. "It is a good thing to keep one's own
counsel. When you get formal notice from Mr. Hurst's solicitors that
proceedings are being commenced, you may refer them to Mr. Marchmont of
Gray's Inn, who will nominally act for you. He will actually have
nothing to do, but we must preserve the fiction that I am instructed by
a solicitor. Meanwhile, and until the case goes into court, I think it
very necessary that neither Mr. Jellicoe nor anyone else should know
that I am connected with it. We must keep the other side in the dark,
if we can."

"We will be as secret as the grave," said Mr. Bellingham; "and, as a
matter of fact, it will be quite easy, since it happens, by a curious
coincidence, that I am already acquainted with Mr. Marchmont. He acted
for Stephen Blackmore, you remember, in that case that you unraveled so
wonderfully. I knew the Blackmores."

"Did you?" said Thorndyke. "What a small world it is. And what a
remarkable affair that was! The intricacies and cross-issues made it
quite absorbingly interesting; and it is noteworthy for me in another
respect, for it was one of the first cases in which I was associated
with Doctor Jervis."

"Yes, and a mighty useful associate I was," remarked Jervis, "though I
did pick up one or two facts by accident. And, by the way, the
Blackmore case had certain points in common with your case, Mr.
Bellingham. There was a disappearance and a disputed will, and the man
who vanished was a scholar and an antiquarian."

"Cases in our specialty are apt to have certain general resemblances,"
Thorndyke said; and as he spoke he directed a keen glance at his
junior, the significance of which I partly understood when he abruptly
changed the subject.

"The newspaper reports of your brother's disappearance, Mr. Bellingham,
were remarkably full of detail. There were even plans of your house
and that of Mr. Hurst. Do you know who supplied the information?"

"No, I don't," replied Mr. Bellingham. "I know that I didn't. Some
newspaper men came to me for information, but I sent them packing. So,
I understand, did Hurst; and as for Jellicoe, you might as well
cross-examine an oyster."

"Well," said Thorndyke, "the pressmen have queer methods of getting
'copy'; bu