f the lych-gate of Lyntonhurst Church on
Wednesday morning at eleven o'clock, you will win the
everlasting gratitude of--

Your sincere friend,

AILSA LORNE.

The superintendent heard the unmistakable sound of the letter being
folded and slid back into its envelope, and very properly concluded that
the time of grace had expired.

"Now, my dear Cleek, let us get down to business," he began forthwith.
"This amazing case which I wish you to undertake and will, as I have
already said, bring you a colossal reward----"

"Your pardon, Mr. Narkom," interjected Cleek, screwing round on his heel
and beginning to search for a railway guide among the litter of papers
and pamphlets jammed into the spaces of a revolving bookcase, "your
pardon, but I can undertake no case, sir--at least, for the present. I
am called to Devonshire, and must start at once. What's that? No, there
is nothing to be won, not a farthing piece. It's a matter of friendship,
nothing more."

"But, Cleek! God bless my soul, man, this is madness. You are simply
chucking away enough money to keep you for the next three years."

"It wouldn't make any difference if it were enough to keep me for the
next twenty, Mr. Narkom. You can't buy entrance to paradise for all the
money in the world, my friend, and I'm getting a day in it for nothing!
Now then," flirting over the leaves of the guide book, "let's see how
the trains run. Dorset--Darsham--Dalby--Devonshire. Good! Here you are.
Um-m-m. Too late for that. Can't possibly catch that one, either. Ah,
here's the one--1.56--that will do." Then he closed the book, almost ran
to the door, and, leaning over the banister, shouted down the
staircase, "Dollops--Dollops, you snail, where are you? Dol---- Oh,
there you are at last, eh? Pack my portmanteau. Best clothes, best
boots, best everything I've got, and look sharp about it. I'm off to
Devonshire by the 1.56."

And, do all that he might, Narkom could not persuade him to alter his
determination. The 1.56 he said he would take; the 1.56 he did take; and
night coming down over the peaceful paths and the leafy loveliness of
Devon found him putting up at the inn of "The Three Desires," hours and
hours and hours ahead of the appointed time, to make sure of being at
the trysting place at eleven next morning.

He was. On the very tick of the minute he was there at the old
moss-grown lych