Incredulous and half fearful he peered at it closely. He remembered
that the impression upon the wax sealing the mysterious envelope had
had a circular depression in the centre. It had been made by the head
of the drawing-pin!

He found himself at the shelf immediately above that upon which the
coin had lain. A stick of black sealing wax used for sealing medicine
was thrust in beside a bundle of long envelopes in which he was
accustomed to post his Infirmary reports!

One hand raised to his head, Stuart stood endeavouring to marshal his
ideas into some sane order. Then, knowing what he should find, he
raised the green baize curtain hanging from the lower shelf, which
concealed a sort of cupboard containing miscellaneous stores and not
a little rubbish, including a number of empty cardboard boxes.

A rectangular strip had been roughly cut from the lid of the topmost
box!

The mysterious envelope and its contents, the wax and the seal--all
had come from his own dispensary!




CHAPTER X

"CLOSE YOUR SHUTTERS AT NIGHT"