man with long beard,
and known on ship as "Josiah Peters."

CHAPTER XII

"SHADOWED" IN CALCUTTA

After usual incidents of ship life, Sir Donald and Esther are at
Calcutta.

A few days were spent in rest and sight-seeing before active search for
the Dodge family was begun. Sir Donald had been in the neighborhood of
the former Dodge home, and by inquiry learned that the family had moved.
Questions as to present whereabouts of former occupants failed to elicit
any satisfactory information. All that he heard from the neighbors was
that Mrs. Dodge and children left suddenly in a closed conveyance, never
returning nor disposing of the house furniture. The owner had taken
possession of the premises and leased to another tenant.

Having inquired every day for about two weeks and learned nothing more
of this family, Sir Donald concluded to make thorough search.

The postoffice, rent-collecting agencies, hospitals, and poor lists,
hotel-registers, mortuary records, with many other means of discovery,
were unavailingly employed. Investigation at the bank where Mary Dodge
drew the hundred pounds failed to disclose any clew to the identity of
the depositor or of her movements.

Difficulties served to whet Sir Donald's desire for success. He employed
discreet persons to search different districts of the city and enlisted
the police in locating the Dodge family. In this way much time passed,
but no clew was found.

Sir Donald pressed this search, not only because of interest in the
welfare of the family, but as likely to furnish additional links in the
chain of circumstantial proofs against the Laniers. He doubted not that
Pierre Lanier had effected their removal.

From London advices he learned that this villain was then in Calcutta,
disguised, but shadowed by detectives who were not to be hampered in
their methods. To Esther he said:

"If these sleuths knew of the Paris confession and would cooeperate with
me, how easily the family might be located. But this would necessitate
taking them into the Dodge confidence with all its perils for that
unhappy man. This I must not do. For me to do such a thing is
impossible. I am handicapped by scruples having no warrant in legal
code, but more autocratic than mandate of Kaiser or Czar."

Esther resumes her Paris habit of visiting at the hospitals. Sir Donald
occasionally accompanies his daughter. Returning from one of these
calls, Esther speaks of the curious actions of