ally," he admitted, "but in practice there's
nothing in it. Neither could work a fraud like that, for both are
watched far too closely by our people. I'm afraid I don't see that this
place being here helps us. Surely it's reasonable to suppose that the
same cause brought Messrs. Ackroyd & Bolt that attracted the syndicate?
Just that it's a good site. Where in the district could you get
a better? Cheap ground and plenty of it, and steamer and rail
connections."

"It's a coincidence anyway."

"I don't see it. In any case unless we can prove that the ship brings
brandy the question doesn't arise."

Merriman shrugged his shoulders good-humoredly.

"That's a blow," he remarked. "And I was so sure I had got hold of
something good! But it just leads us back to the question that somehow
or other we must inspect that depot, and if we find nothing we must
watch the Girondin unloading. If we can only get near enough it would be
impossible for them to discharge anything in bulk without our seeing it."

Hilliard murmured an agreement, and the two men strolled on in silence,
the thoughts of each busy with the problem Merriman had set. Both were
realizing that detective work was a very much more difficult business
than they had imagined. Had not each had a strong motive for continuing
the investigation, it is possible they might have grown fainthearted.
But Hilliard had before him the vision of the kudos which would accrue
to him if he could unmask a far-reaching conspiracy, while to Merriman
the freeing of Madeleine Coburn from the toils in which she seemed to
have been enmeshed had become of more importance than anything else in
the world.

The two friends had already left the distillery half a mile behind, when
Hilliard stopped and looked at his watch.

"Ten minutes to twelve," he announced. "As we have nothing to do let's
go back and watch that place. Something may happen during the afternoon,
and if not we'll look out for the workmen leaving and see if we can pick
up something from them."

They retraced their steps past the distillery and depot, then creeping
into a little wood, sat down on a bank within sight of the enclosure and
waited.

The day was hot and somewhat enervating, and both enjoyed the relaxation
in the cool shade. They sat for the most part in silence, smoking
steadily, and turning over in their minds the problems with which they
were faced. Before them the country sloped gently down to the railway
ban