carelessness destroys my confidence in him," said Shylock, who was the
first to recover from the surprise of the revelation.

[Illustration: "THE STRANGER DREW FORTH A BUNDLE OF BUSINESS CARDS"]




III

THE SEARCH-PARTY IS ORGANIZED


"Well, Mr. Holmes," said Sir Walter Raleigh, after three rousing cheers,
led by Hamlet, had been given with a will by the assembled spirits, "after
this demonstration in your honor I think it is hardly necessary for me to
assure you of our hearty co-operation in anything you may venture to
suggest. There is still manifest, however, some desire on the part of the
ever-wise King Solomon and my friend Confucius to know how you deduce that
Kidd has sailed for London, from the cigar end which you hold in your
hand."

[Illustration: "THREE ROUSING CHEERS, LED BY HAMLET, WERE GIVEN"]

"I can easily satisfy their curiosity," said Sherlock Holmes, genially. "I
believe I have already proven that it is the end of Kidd's cigar. The
marks of the teeth have shown that. Now observe how closely it is
smoked--there is barely enough of it left for one to insert between his
teeth. Now Captain Kidd would hardly have risked the edges of his mustache
and the comfort of his lips by smoking a cigar down to the very light if