onsiderably, and his voice had an anxious
note in it when he spoke.

"Gad, sir, but it has!" he ejaculated. "That's the trouble itself. Every
single banknote is gone. L200,000 is gone and not a trace of it! Heaven
only knows what I'm going to do about it, Mr. Narkom, but that's how the
matter stands. Every penny is _gone_."

"Gone!"

Mr. Narkom drew out a red silk handkerchief and wiped his forehead
vigorously--a sure sign of nervous excitement--while Mr. Headland
exclaimed loudly, "Well, I'm hanged!"

"Someone certainly will be," rapped out Mr. Brent sharply. "For not only
have the notes vanished, but I've lost the best night-watchman I ever
had, a good, trustworthy man--"

"Lost him?" put in Mr. Headland curiously. "What exactly do you mean by
that, Mr. Brent? Did he vanish with the notes?"

"What? Will Simmons? Never in this world! He's not that kind. The man
that offered Will Simmons a bribe to betray his trust would answer for
it with his life. A more faithful servant, or better fellow never drew
breath. No it's dead he is, Mr. Headland, and--I can hardly speak of it
yet! I feel so much to blame for putting him on the job at all, but you
see we've had a regular series of petty thefts lately; small sums unable
to be accounted for, safes opened in the most mysterious manner, and
money abstracted--though never any large sums fortunately--even the
clerks' coats had not been left untouched. I have had a constant watch
kept, but all in vain. So, naturally, when this big deposit came to hand
on Tuesday morning, I determined that special precautions should be
taken at night, and put poor old Simmons down in the vault with the
bank's watchdog for company. That was the last time I saw him alive! He
was found writhing in convulsions and by the time that the doctor
arrived upon the scene he was dead; the safe was found open, and every
note was _gone_!"

"Bad business indeed!" declared Mr. Headland with a shake of the head.
"No idea as to the cause of death, Mr. Brent? What was the doctor's
verdict?"

Mr. Naylor-Brent's face clouded.

"That's the very dickens of it, he didn't quite know. Said it was
evidently a case of poisoning, but was unable to decide further, or to
find out what sort of poison--if any--had been used."

"Hmm. I see. And what did the local police say? Have they found any
clues yet?"

The manager flushed, and he gave vent to a forced laugh.

"As a matter of fact," he responded, "the local polic