. They were nine one pound
notes; all numbered, of course. Beyond this and the number on
the watch there was nothing to afford a clue.'--"

Here Barham paused for a glance up at the roof of the dug-out, as two
explosions sounded pretty near at hand. "Huns saying good-night," he
interpolated. "Can't have spotted us. Nothing doing aloft these
three days."

Polkinghorne looked across the light at the C.O., who sat
unaccountably silent, his face inscrutable in the penumbra.
Taking silence for "yes," Polkinghorne arose and put his head outside
for a look around.

"Queer story, you'll admit, sir?" put in Sammy Barham during this
pause. "Shall I go on, or wait for the rollicking Polly to hear it
out?--for the queerest part is to come."

"I know," said Otway, after some two or three seconds' silence.

"Eh? . . . But it's just here, sir, the thing of a sudden gets
mysteriouser and mysteriouser--"

Polkinghorne came back. "Nerves," he reported. "They're potting all
over the place. . . . Here, Sammy, pass over that scrap of paper if
you've finished reading. I want to hear the end."

"It hasn't any," said Otway from the shadow.

"But, sir, when I was just warning you--"

"Dashed good beginning, anyway," said Polkinghorne; "something like
_Our Mutual Friend_."

"Who's he?" asked Sammy.

"Ingenuous youth, continue," Otway commanded. "Polky wants to hear
the rest of the paragraph, and so do I."

"It goes on just like a detective story," promised Sammy. "Just you
listen to this:--

"'An incident which may eventually throw some light on the
mystery interrupted the Coroner's summing up and caused
something of a sensation. This was the appearance of an
individual, evidently labouring under strong excitement, who,
having thrust his way past the police, advanced to the Coroner's
table and demanded to have sight of the body. The man's
gestures were wild, and on being asked his name he answered
incoherently. His manner seriously affected one of the jury,
who swooned and had to be removed from Court.

"'While restoratives were being applied at the 'Plume and
Feathers' Inn (adjacent to the building in which the inquest was
held), the Coroner held consultation with Police and Foreman of
the Jury, and eventually adjourned for a second inspection of
the body, the stranger accompanying them. From this inspection,
as from the first,