y chat. Facts are what we want; and
if the fact is that Robert Redmayne didn't kill Michael Pendean,
that doesn't mean for a moment that Mr. Pendean isn't dead. You must
not let theories frighten you now, since you certainly did not allow
them to do so in the past."

"More than ever it is necessary that my unhappy brother should be
secured," declared Albert. "It is interesting to remember," he
added, "that poor Bendigo first thought he had to do with a ghost
when the arrival of his brother was reported to him. He was very
superstitious, as sailors often are, and not until Jenny had seen
and spoken with her uncle, did Bendigo believe that a living man
wanted to see him."

"The fact that it was actually Robert Redmayne and no ghost is
proved by that incident, Ganns," added Mark Brendon. "That the man
who came to 'Crow's Nest' was in truth Robert Redmayne we can rest
assured through Mrs. Doria, who knew her uncle exceedingly well. It
only remains to prove with equal certainty that the wanderer here is
Redmayne, and one can feel very little question that he is. It is of
course marvellous that he escaped discovery and arrest; but it may
not be as marvellous as it seems. Stranger things have happened. And
who else could it be in any case?"

"That reminds me," replied Ganns. "There has been mention made of
Mr. Bendigo's log. He kept a careful diary--so it was reported. I
should like to have that book, Albert, for in your statement you
tell me that you preserved it."

"I did and it is here," replied his friend. "That and dear Bendigo's
'Bible,' as I call it--a copy of 'Moby Dick'--I brought away. As yet
I have not consulted the diary--it was too intimate and distressed
me. But I was looking forward to doing so."

"The parcel containing both books is in a drawer in the library.
I'll get them," said Jenny. She left the apartment where they sat
overlooking the lake and returned immediately with a parcel wrapped
in brown paper.

"Why do you need this, Peter?" asked Albert, and while he was
satisfied with the reply, Brendon was not.

"It's always interesting to get a thing from every angle," answered
Mr. Ganns. "Your brother may have something to tell us."

But whether Bendigo's diary might have proved valuable remained a
matter of doubt, for when Jenny opened the parcel, it was not there.
A blank book and the famous novel were all the parcel contained.

"But I packed it myself," said Mr. Redmayne. "The diary was bound