compelled Lethierry's brain to work. Conjecture is a
healthy occupation for the mind. Reason is awakened: logic is called
into play.

For some time past public opinion in Guernsey had been undergoing a
reaction on the subject of Clubin: that man of such high reputation for
honour during many years; that man so unanimously regarded with esteem.
People had begun to question and to doubt; there were wagers pro and
con. Some light had been thrown on the question in singular ways. The
figure of Clubin began to become clearer, that is to say, he began to be
blacker in the eyes of the world.

A judicial inquiry had taken place at St. Malo, for the purpose of
ascertaining what had become of the coast-guardman, number 619. Legal
perspicacity had got upon a false scent, a thing which happens not
unfrequently. It had started with the hypothesis that the man had been
enticed by Zuela, and shipped aboard the _Tamaulipas_ for Chili. This
ingenious supposition had led to a considerable amount of wasted
conjecture. The shortsightedness of justice had failed to take note of
Rantaine; but in the progress of inquiry the authorities had come upon
other clues. The affair, so obscure, became complicated. Clubin had
become mixed up with the enigma. A coincidence, perhaps a direct
connection, had been found between the departure of the _Tamaulipas_ and
the loss of the Durande. At the wine-shop near the Dinan Gate, where
Clubin thought himself entirely unknown, he had been recognised. The
wine-shop keeper had talked; Clubin had bought a bottle of brandy that
night. For whom? The gunsmith of St. Vincent Street, too, had talked.
Clubin had purchased a revolver. For what object? The landlord of the
"Jean Auberge" had talked. Clubin had absented himself in an
inexplicable manner. Captain Gertrais-Gaboureau had talked; Clubin had
determined to start, although warned, and knowing that he might expect a
great fog. The crew of the Durande had talked. In fact, the collection
of the freight had been neglected, and the stowage badly arranged, a
negligence easy to comprehend, if the captain had determined to wreck
the ship. The Guernsey passenger, too, had spoken. Clubin had evidently
imagined that he had run upon the Hanways. The Torteval people had
spoken. Clubin had visited that neighbourhood a few days before the loss
of the Durande, and had been seen walking in the direction of Pleinmont,
near the Hanways. He had with him a travelling-bag. "He had se