se of his accident, it is hardly worth
while making a mystery of it."

"I forgot that. My name is John Jeffreys."

"Thank you. It is a very proper thing of you to offer to assist us in
our search, and I shall be glad if in the end you should become entitled
to the reward which has been offered."

"I would not touch a farthing of it," said Jeffreys, with a scorn that
astonished the lawyer.

"Well, that's your affair. I can understand you have some remorse for
what has occurred, and would be glad to help, reward or no reward."

"I would give my life to find young Forrester. Has anything been heard
of him?"

"Not much, though we have been able to trace him rather farther than you
did. We found a day or two ago a mention of the case of a lad suffering
from the results of an accident such as he appears to have met with in
one of the medical papers at the time. The case was reported as having
been treated at Middlesex Hospital, and I find on inquiry there that in
the December of that year Gerard Forrester was a patient under treatment
for some months, and in the May following was discharged as incurable.
That, you see, was more than eighteen months ago."

Jeffreys felt his heart thump excitedly as he listened. It was little
enough, but it seemed at least to bring him six months nearer to the
object of his search.

"After that," said Mr Wilkins, "we are unable to discover anything.
The address entered against his name in the hospital books, which was
probably that of his old nurse, cannot now be found, as the street has
been pulled down a year ago, and no one recollects him. I saw the
surgeon at the hospital, who remembered the case, and he explained to me
that the boy when he left there might have lived a month or twenty
years. In any case he would always have to lie on his back. It would
be possible, he said, for him to use his hands--indeed, he believed
during the last week or two of his stay in the hospital he had amused
himself with drawing."

"He was considered good at drawing at Bolsover," put in Jeffreys.

"So he may possibly have been able to earn a living of some sort. The
strange thing is that he does not appear to have written to any one. He
might have communicated with his former head-master, or some of his
grandmother's friends at Grangerham, but he has not. According to
Colonel--to my client's account, he does not even appear to have written
to his father, though it is possible a letter