in repose. A fresh relay of visitors arrived, and obliged him
to make way for them to pass into the room--which he did by politely
rolling himself round the door-post into the passage.

As he disappeared in this way, Mr. Blyth bustled up to the place
where Mat had been standing, and received his guests there, with great
cordiality, but also with some appearance of flurry and perplexity of
mind. The fact was, that Lady Brambledown had just remembered that she
had not examined Valentine's works yet, through one of those artistic
tubes which effectively concentrate the rays of light on a picture, when
applied to the eye. Knowing, by former experience, that the studio
was furnished with one of these little instruments, her ladyship now
intimated her ardent desire to use it instantly on "Columbus." Valentine
promised to get it, with his usual ready politeness; but he had not the
slightest idea where it actually was, for all that. Among the litter
of small things that had been cleared out of the way, when the
painting-room was put in order, there were several which he vaguely
remembered having huddled together for safety in the bottom of his
bureau. The tube might possibly have been among them; so in this place
he determined to look for it--being quite ignorant, if the search turned
out unsuccessful, where he ought to look next.

After begging the new visitors to walk in, he opened the bureau, which
was large and old-fashioned, with a little bright key hanging by a chain
that he unhooked from his watch-guard; and began searching inside amid
infinite confusion--all his attention concentrated in the effort to
discover the lost tube. It was not to be found in the bottom of the
bureau. He next looked, after a little preliminary hesitation, into
a long narrow drawer opening beneath some pigeon-hole recesses at the
back.

The tube was not there, either; and he shut the drawer to again,
carefully and gently--for inside it was the Hair Bracelet that had
belonged to Madonna's mother, lying on the white handkerchief, which
had also been taken from the dead woman's pocket. Just as he closed
the drawer, he heard footsteps at his right hand, and turned in that
direction rather suspiciously--locking down the lid of the bureau as he
looked round. It was only the civil Mr. Gimble, wanting to know what
Mr. Blyth was searching for, and whether he could help him. Valentine
mentioned the loss of the tube; and Mr. Gimble immediately volunteere