awson was fortune-hunting or not I cannot say, but Mason
certainly accused him of it, and promised to keep back the girl's money
as long as he could. In the meantime Mason declared an end to the
engagement, and poor Helen was broken-hearted; for as I have said, she
is an affectionate girl, and she hadn't a friend to confide in. But I'm
boring you--you don't want to know all these things, surely?"

"On the contrary, I can't possibly know too much, and the particulars
can't possibly be too minute. Nine cases out of ten I bring to an issue
by means of a triviality. You were saying a little while back that there
were almost _no_ visitors at Mr. Mason's house; but you said 'almost,'
and that means there are some. Who are they?"

"Very occasionally--rarely, in fact--there are one or two members of
learned societies with whom he had been in correspondence, or who are
old friends. There is a Professor Hutton and a Dr. Burge, I believe; but
they don't appear once in six months; and there is Mr. Everard Myatt,
who is more frequent. He does not profess to be a great man of science,
but he is interested in chemistry as an amateur, and is, I fancy, a sort
of disciple of Mason's. He has noticed a sad difference in Mason just
lately, and he even called on me yesterday, though I hardly knew him by
sight, in the hope that I would back up his urgent suggestion that
Mason should go off for a change and a rest. Beyond these I don't think
I know of a single visitor. But here we are at the Megatherium."

II

Mr. Jacob Mason's house stood in its own grounds in a quiet suburban
road. It was not a very large house, but it straggled about comfortably
in the manner of detached houses built in the suburbs at a time when
space was less valuable than now, and it consisted of two floors only.
The front door was not far from the road, and was clearly visible to
passengers who might chance to look through either of the two iron gates
that opened one on each end of the semi-circular drive.

All these things Martin Hewitt noticed as the Rev. Mr. Potswood pushed
open one of these gates, and the two walked up the drive. The front door
stood in a portico, and a French window gave access to the roof of this
portico from a bedroom or dressing-room. As Hewitt and his companion
approached the house the French window was pushed open, and a man
appeared--a middle-aged, slightly stoutish man with a short, grey beard;
commonplace enough in himself, but