have come across in these journals."

He tapped them with his forefinger, and the Prince nodded thoughtfully.

"Your wonderful Press!" he exclaimed. "How much it is responsible for!
Well, Dr. Whiles, what have the newspapers to say to you?"

The doctor handed across a carefully folded journal and pointed to a
certain paragraph.

"Will you kindly read this?" he begged.

The Prince accepted the sheet and read the paragraph aloud:

"FIFTY POUNDS REWARD! Disappeared from his home in Long Whatton on
Wednesday morning last, Herbert Spencer Whiles, Surgeon. The above
reward will be paid to any one giving information which will lead to
the discovery of his present whereabouts. Was last seen in a motor
car, Limousine body, painted dark green, leaving Long Whatton in the
direction of London."

The Prince laid down the paper, smiling.

"Well?" he asked. "That seems clear enough. Some one is willing to give
fifty pounds to know where you are."

The doctor tapped the advertisement with his forefinger impressively.

"Fifty pounds!" he repeated. "There isn't a person in the world to whom
the knowledge of my movements is worth fifty pounds--except--"

"Except?" the Prince murmured.

"Except Mr. Inspector Jacks," Dr. Whiles said slowly.

The Prince seemed scarcely to grasp the situation.

"Well," he said, "fifty pounds is not a great deal of money. Some
unknown person--possibly, as you suggest, Mr. Jacks--is willing to give
fifty pounds to discover your whereabouts. I, on the other hand, am
giving a thousand guineas to keep you here as my guest. The odds do not
seem even, do they?"

"Put in that way," Dr. Whiles admitted, "they certainly do not. But
there is another thing which has come into my mind."

The Prince smiled and helped himself to one of the very excellent
cigarettes which had been provided for the delectation of his visitor.

"Pray treat me with every confidence, Dr. Whiles," he said. "Tell me
exactly what is in your thoughts."

"Well, then, I will," the doctor answered. "Sitting here with nothing
particular to do, one has plenty of leisure to think. For the first
time, I have seriously tried to puzzle out what Mr. Inspector Jacks
really wanted with me, why he came down to ask me about the person whom
I treated for injuries resulting from a bicycle accident one Wednesday
evening not long ago, why he took me up to London to see if I could
identify that person in a very different guise. I have tried to