"Within a hundred yards of this house? Then it wasn't stolen by one of my
rivals?"

"I should say not," Quest admitted.

"Where? Where exactly did you find it?" the other insisted.

Quest was standing very still, his manner more reserved even than usual,
his eyes studying the Professor, weighing every spoken word.

"I found it in a hut," he said, "hidden in a piano box. I found there,
also, a creature--a human being, I must call him--in a state of
captivity."

"Hidden in a piano box?" the Professor repeated wonderingly. "Why, you
mean in Hartoo's sleeping box, then?"

"If Mr. Hartoo is the gentleman who tried to club me, you are right,"
Quest admitted. "Mr. Ashleigh, before we go any further I must ask you for
an explanation as to the presence of that person in your grounds!"

The Professor hesitated for a moment. Then he slowly crossed the room,
opened the drawer of a small escritoire, and drew out a letter.

"You have heard of Sir William Raysmore, the President of the Royal
Society?" he asked.

Quest nodded.

"This letter is from him," the Professor continued. "You had better read