but had been as unsuccessful as Henry Blaine's own
operatives, who had been working unostentatiously but tirelessly since
the news of the young lawyer's evanescence had come.

No one could be found who had seen him. When he left the offices of
the great detective on the previous morning he seemed to have vanished
into thin air. It was to Blaine the most baffling incident of all that
had occurred since this most complex case had come into his hands.

He kept his word and called to see Anita in the late afternoon. He
found that she had slept for some hours and was calmer and more
hopeful, which was fortunate, for he had scant comfort to offer her
beyond his vague but forceful reassurances that all would be well.

Early on the following morning Suraci returned from Long Bay and
presented himself at the office of his chief to report.

"Here are the tracings from the register of 'The Breakers' which you
desired, sir," he began, spreading some large thin sheets of paper
upon the desk. "The Lawtons spent three weeks there at the time you
designated, and Mr. Hamilton went out each week-end, from Friday to
Monday, as you can see here, and here. They had no other visitors and
kept much to themselves."

Blaine scanned the papers rapidly, pausing here and there to
scrutinize more closely a signature which appeared to interest him. At
length he pushed them aside with a dissatisfied frown, as if he had
been looking for something which he had failed to find.

"Anything suspicious about the guests who arrived during the Lawtons'
stay?" he asked. "Was there any incident in connection with them
worthy of note which the proprietor could recall?"

"No, sir, but I found some of the employees and talked to them. The
hotel is closed now for the winter, of course, but two or three of the
waiters and bell-boys live in the neighborhood. A summer resort is a
hot-bed of gossip, as you know, sir, and since Mr. Lawton's sudden
death the servants have been comparing notes of his visit there two
years ago. I found the waiter who served them, and two bell-boys, and
they each had a curious incident to tell me in connection with the
Lawtons. The stories would have held no significance if it weren't for
the fact that they all happened to concern one person--a man who
arrived on the eighth of August. This man here."

Suraci ran his finger down the register page until he came to one
name, where he stopped abruptly.

"Albert Addison, Baltimore, Mar