stood the Home for Destitute and Decayed Cats,
whither Logan had once abducted Rangoon, the Siamese puss.

'Thank you,' said Merton simply. 'And I am to ask for?'

'Ask first for Dr. Fogarty. You will tell him that you wish to see the
_Ertwa Oknurcha_.'

'Ah, Australian for "The Big Man,"' said Merton.

'I don't know what it means,' said Miss Markham. 'Dr. Fogarty will then
ask, "Have you the _churinga_?"'

The girl drew out a slim gold chain which hung round her neck and under
her dress. At the end of it was a dark piece of wood, shaped much like a
large cigar, and decorated with incised concentric circles, stained red.

'Take that and show it to Dr. Fogarty,' said Miss Markham, detaching the
object from the chain.

Merton returned it to her. 'I know where to get a similar _churinga_,'
he said. 'Keep your own. Its absence, if asked for, might lead to
awkward questions.'

'Thank you, I can trust you,' said Miss Markham, adding, 'You will
address my father as Dr. Melville.'

'Again thanks, and good-bye,' said Merton. He bowed and withdrew.

'She is a good deal upset, poor girl,' Merton remarked to Madame
Claudine, who, on going to comfort Miss Markham with tea, found her
weeping. Merton took another cab, and drove to Trevor's house.

After dinner (at which there were no guests), and in the smoking-room,
Trevor asked whether he had made any progress.

'Everything succeeded to a wish,' said Merton. 'You remember Water
Lane?'

'Where Logan carried the Siamese cat in my cab,' said Trevor, grinning at
the reminiscence. 'Rather! I reconnoitred the place with Logan.'

'Well, on the day after to-morrow I have business there.'

'Not at the Cats' Home?'

'No, but perhaps you might reconnoitre again. Do you remember a house
with high walls and spikes on them?'

'I do,' said Trevor; 'but how do you know? You never were there. You
disapproved of Logan's method in the case of the cat.'

'I never was there; I only made a guess, because the house I am
interested in is a private asylum.'

'Well, you guessed right. What then?'

'You might reconnoitre the ground to-morrow--the exits, there are sure to
be some towards waste land or market gardens.'

'Jolly!' said Trevor. 'I'll make up as a wanderer from Suffolk, looking
for a friend in the slums; semi-bargee kind of costume.'

'That would do,' said Merton. 'But you had better go in the early
morning.'

'A nuisance. Why?'

'Because, later, yo