speed was further reduced by frequent stoppages. Bearing these facts in
mind, I gave an occasional backward glance as we jogged northward,
though my attention soon began to wander from the rather remote
possibility of pursuit to the incidents of our late exploration.

It had not been difficult to see that Thorndyke was very well pleased
with the results of our search, but excepting the letter--which
undoubtedly opened up a channel for further inquiry and possible
identification--I could not perceive that any of the traces that we had
found justified his satisfaction. There were the spectacles, for
instance. They were almost certainly the pair worn by Mr. Graves. But
what then? It was exceedingly improbable that we should be able to
discover the maker of them, and if we were, it was still more improbable
that he would be able to give us any information that would help us.
Spectacle-makers are not usually on confidential terms with their
customers.

As to the other objects, I could make nothing of them. The little sticks
of reed evidently had some use that was known to Thorndyke and
furnished, by inference, some kind of information about Weiss, Graves,
or Mrs. Schallibaum. But I had never seen anything like them before and
they conveyed nothing whatever to me. Then the bottle that had seemed so
significant to Thorndyke was to me quite uninforming. It did, indeed,
suggest that some member of the household might be connected with the
stage, but it gave no hint as to which one. Certainly that person was
not Mr. Weiss, whose appearance was as remote from that of an actor as
could well be imagined. At any rate, the bottle and its label gave me no
more useful hint than it might be worth while to call on Mr. Fox and
make inquiries; and something told me very emphatically that this was
not what it had conveyed to Thorndyke.