thing came of them. Nevertheless, Rocco's manner,
a strange elusive something in the man's eyes, had nearly convinced
Racksole that he was somehow implicated in Jules' schemes--and probably
in the death of Reginald Dimmock and the disappearance of Prince Eugen
of Posen.

That night, or rather about half-past one the next morning, when the
last noises of the hotel's life had died down, Racksole made his way
to Room 111 on the second floor. He locked the door on the inside, and
proceeded to examine the place, square foot by square foot. Every
now and then some creak or other sound startled him, and he listened
intently for a few seconds. The bedroom was furnished in the ordinary
splendid style of bedrooms at the Grand Babylon Hotel, and in that
respect called for no remark. What most interested Racksole was the
flooring. He pulled up the thick Oriental carpet, and peered along every
plank, but could discover nothing unusual.

Then he went to the dressing-room, and finally to the bathroom, both
of which opened out of the main room. But in neither of these smaller
chambers was he any more successful than in the bedroom itself. Finally
he came to the bath, which was enclosed in a panelled casing of polished
wood, after the manner of baths. Some baths have a cupboard beneath the
taps, with a door at the side, but this one appeared to have none. He
tapped the panels, but not a single one of them gave forth that 'curious
hollow sound' which usually betokens a secret place. Idly he turned the
cold-tap of the bath, and the water began to rush in. He turned off the
cold-tap and turned on the waste-tap, and as he did so his knee, which
was pressing against the panelling, slipped forward. The panelling had
given way, and he saw that one large panel was hinged from the inside,
and caught with a hasp, also on the inside. A large space within the
casing of the end of the bath was thus revealed. Before doing anything
else, Racksole tried to repeat the trick with the waste-tap, but he
failed; it would not work again, nor could he in any way perceive that
there was any connection between the rod of the waste-tap and the hasp
of the panel. Racksole could not see into the cavity within the casing,
and the electric light was fixed, and could not be moved about like
a candle. He felt in his pockets, and fortunately discovered a box of
matches. Aided by these, he looked into the cavity, and saw nothing;
nothing except a rather large hole at t