pstead for the letters, I have not
heard of him since."

"It is most mysterious," Mr. Jarvis declared. "The governor--I beg
your pardon, Mr. Weatherley--is a gentleman of most punctual habits.
There are several matters of business which he knew awaited his
decision to-day. You will excuse me, madam, if I ask whether Mr.
Weatherley seemed in his usual health when he left this morning?"

Fenella smiled faintly.

"Have I not already told you," she said, "that he left the cottage
in the country, where we spent the week-end, before half-past seven
this morning? Naturally, therefore, I did not see him. The servants,
however, noticed nothing unusual. Last night Mr. Chetwode here was
with us, and he can tell you what was apparent to all of us. Mr.
Weatherley seemed then in excellent health and spirits."

Mr. Jarvis had the air of a man hopelessly bewildered. Excellent
servant though he was, nature had not bestowed upon him those gifts
which enable a man to meet a crisis firmly.

"Can you suggest anything that we ought to do, madam?" he asked Mrs.
Weatherley.

"I think," she replied, "that Mr. Chetwode has something to tell
you."

Arnold took the key of the safe from his pocket and turned to the
cashier.

"A few days ago, Mr. Jarvis," he said slowly, "Mr. Weatherley placed
certain documents in that safe and gave me the key. My instructions
from him were to open and examine them with you, if he should be,
for any unexplained cause, absent from business."

Mr. Jarvis looked blankly incredulous.

"Goodness gracious!" he murmured weakly. "Why, that looks almost as
though he expected something of the sort to happen."

"I think," Arnold continued, "that as it is now past three o'clock,
and Mr. Weatherley is still absent, we had better open the safe."

He crossed the room as he spoke, fitted the key in the lock, and
swung the door open. Mrs. Weatherley and the cashier looked over his
shoulder. There were only the two letters there. One was addressed
to Messrs. Turnbull & James, Solicitors; the other jointly to Mr.
Jarvis and Mr. Arnold Chetwode.

[Illustration: Mrs. Weatherley and the cashier looked over his
shoulder. _Page 259_.]

"There is nothing there for me?" Mrs. Weatherley asked,
incredulously.

"There is nothing at all," Arnold replied; "unless there may be an
enclosure. Mr. Jarvis, will you open this envelope?"

Mr. Jarvis took it to the desk and broke the seal with trembling
fingers. He smoothed t