er pale and wild-looking, and evidently
in a state of profound agitation.

"I am afraid," said the latter, with a glance at me and the dinner
table, "that our visit--for which I am alone responsible--is a most
unseasonable one. If we are really inconveniencing you, Dr. Thorndyke,
pray tell us, and my business must wait."

Thorndyke had cast a keen and curious glance at the young man, and he
now replied in a much more genial tone--

"I take it that your business is of a kind that will not wait, and as to
inconveniencing us, why, my friend and I are both doctors, and, as you
are aware, no doctor expects to call any part of the twenty-four hours
his own unreservedly."

I had risen on the entrance of the two strangers, and now proposed to
take a walk on the Embankment and return later, but the young man
interrupted me.

"Pray don't go away on my account," he said. "The facts that I am about
to lay before Dr. Thorndyke will be known to all the world by this time
to-morrow, so there is no occasion for any show of secrecy."

"In that case," said Thorndyke, "let us draw our chairs up to the fire
and fall to business forthwith. We had just finished our dinner and were
waiting for the coffee, which I hear my man bringing down at this
moment."

We accordingly drew up our chairs, and when Polton had set the coffee on
the table and retired, the lawyer plunged into the matter without
preamble.

CHAPTER II

THE SUSPECT

"I had better," said he, "give you a general outline of the case as it
presents itself to the legal mind, and then my client, Mr. Reuben
Hornby, can fill in the details if necessary, and answer any questions
that you may wish to put to him.

"Mr. Reuben occupies a position of trust in the business of his uncle,
John Hornby, who is a gold and silver refiner and dealer in precious
metals generally. There is a certain amount of outside assay work
carried on in the establishment, but the main business consists in the
testing and refining of samples of gold sent from certain mines in South
Africa.

"About five years ago Mr. Reuben and his cousin Walter--another nephew
of John Hornby--left school, and both were articled to their uncle, with
the view to their ultimately becoming partners in the house; and they
have remained with him ever since, occupying, as I have said, positions
of considerable responsibility.

"And now for a few words as to how business is conducted in Mr. Hornby's
establishment.