"The colour'll be a bit washed out, won't it?" young Lister said; "we've
had a lot of rain since Bank Holiday."

Micklebrown's lip curled but he said nothing. Only to us, his intimates,
did he confide that he had no expectation of finding the topaz on the
surface; he expected to search through several strata of mud, and he was
taking a magnifying-glass and a gravy-strainer with him.

We heard nothing further until I had a postcard from him saying that the
rain had caused the blackberries so to multiply that he found it impossible
to identify the particular bush near which he had stepped on the lizard; he
was therefore making a general search over the area. After that we followed
the tale in _The Daily Trail_:--

SEASIDE VISITOR'S STRANGE CONDUCT.

Much curiosity has been aroused at Cocklesea by the behaviour of a visitor
who spends his days on the cliff burrowing in the earth in all weathers.
Speculation is rife as to the object of his occupation. It is generally
concluded that he is the victim of shell-shock.

ROMANTIC DISCLOSURE BY COCKLESEA CLIFF BURROWER.

In conversation with our representative yesterday Mr. Micklebrown, whose
burrowing on the cliff at Cocklesea has been observed with such interest,
indignantly denied the imputation of shell-shock. Mr. Micklebrown, it
appears, is spending his vacation at Cocklesea in the hope of recovering a
topaz which formed part of a valuable piece of jewellery which he had the
good fortune to pick up on the cliff on Bank Holiday. Being anxious to
notify his discovery without delay to the police (who however failed to