ic disturbance has cut us off from
our London correspondent. We sent messages in the usual way, but there
has been no reply. You sent to Scotland Yard for detectives, I think you
said?'

'I did.'

'But, unluckily, what can London detectives do in a country like this?'
said Mr. Macrae.

'I told them to send one who had the Gaelic,' said Bude.

'It was well thought of,' said Mr. Macrae, 'but this was no local job.
Every man for miles round has been examined, and accounted for.'

'I hope you have slept well, Mr. Merton?' he asked.

'Excellently. Can you not put me on some work if it is only to copy
telegraphic despatches? But, by the way, how is Blake?'

'The doctor is still with him,' said Mr. Macrae; 'a case of concussion of
the brain, he says it is. But you go out and take the air, you must be
careful of yourself.'

Bude remained with the millionaire, Merton sauntered out to look at the
river: running water drew him like a magnet. By the side of the stream,
on a woodland path, he met Lady Bude. She took his hand silently in her
right, and patted it with her left. Merton turned his head away.

'What can I say to you?' she asked. 'Oh, this is too horrible, too
cruel.'

'If I had listened to you and not irritated her I might have been with
her, not Blake,' said Merton, with keen self-respect.

'I don't quite see that you would be any the better for concussion of the
brain,' said Lady Bude, smiling. 'Oh, Mr. Merton, you _must_ find her, I
know how you have worked already. You must rescue her. Consider, this
is your chance, this is your opportunity to do something great. Take
courage!'

Merton answered, with a rather watery smile, 'If I had Logan with me.'

'With or without Lord Fastcastle, you _must do it_!' said Lady Bude.

They saw Mr. Macrae approaching them deep in thought and advanced to meet
him.

'Mr. Macrae,' asked Lady Bude suddenly, 'have you had Donald with you
long?'

'Ever since he was a lad in Canada,' answered the millionaire. 'I have
every confidence in Donald's ability, and he was for half a year with
Gianesi and Giambresi, learning to work their system.'

Donald's honesty, it was clear, he never dreamed of suspecting. Merton
blushed, as he remembered that a doubt as to whether the engineer had
been 'got at' had occurred to his own mind. For a heavy bribe (Merton
had fancied) Donald might have been induced, perhaps by some Stock
Exchange operator, to tamper with the wir