perty?" Burton asked, with some eagerness.

"Not as I knows on," the plasterer replied, picking up his brush, "and
as to the missing property, there was nowt but a few mouldy rugs and a
flower-pot in the room. Some folks does seem able to work themselves up
into a fuss about nothing, and no mistake! Good morning, guvnor! Drop
in again some time when you're passing."

Burton turned out of Wenslow Square and approached the offices and
salesrooms of Messrs. Waddington & Forbes with some misgiving. Bearing
in mind the peculiar nature of the business conducted by the firm, he
could only conclude that ruin, prompt and absolute, had been the
inevitable sequence of Mr. Waddington's regrettable appetite. He was
somewhat relieved to find that there were no evidences of it in the
familiar office which he entered with some diffidence.

"Is Mr. Waddington in?" he inquired.

A strange young man slipped from his stool and found his questioner
gazing about him in a bewildered manner. There was much, indeed, that
was surprising in his surroundings. The tattered bills had been torn
down from the walls, the dust-covered files of papers removed, the
ceilings and walls painted and papered. A general cleanliness and sense
of order had taken the place of the old medley. The young man who had
answered his inquiry was quietly dressed and not in the least like the
missing office-boy.

"Mr. Waddington is at present conducting a sale of furniture," he
replied. "I can send a message in if your business is important."

Burton, who had always felt a certain amount of liking for his late
employer, was filled now with a sudden pity for him. Truth was a great
and marvelous thing, but the last person who had need of it was surely
an auctioneer engaged in the sale of sham articles of every description!
It was putting the man in an unfair position. A vague sense of loyalty
towards his late chief prompted Burton's next action. If help were
possible, Mr. Waddington should have it.

"Thank you," he said, "I will step into the sales-room myself. I know
the way."

Burton pushed open the doors and entered the room. To his surprise, the
place was packed. There was the usual crowd of buyers and many strange
faces; the usual stacks of furniture of the usual quality, and other
lots less familiar. Mr. Waddington stood in his accustomed place but
not in his accustomed attitude. The change in him was obvious but in a
sense pathetic. He was quietly dressed, and