fears were groundless. Thankfully he recognized that they would
co-operate as they had originally intended.

"Jolly good notion, that," he answered cordially.

"I confess," Merriman went on slowly, "that I should have liked to
stay in the neighborhood and see if we couldn't find out something
more about the lorry numbers. It may be a trivial point, but it's
the only direct and definite thing we know of. All the rest are
hints or suspicions or probabilities. But here we have a bit of
mystery, tangible, in our hands, as it were. Why were those number
plates changed? It seems to me a good point of attack."

"I thought of that, too, and I agree with every word you say,"
Hilliard replied eagerly, "but there is the question of our being
suspects. I believe we shall be watched out of the place, and I
feel sure our only chance of learning anything is to satisfy them
of our bona fides."

Merriman agreed, and they continued discussing the matter in detail,
at last deciding to adopt Hilliard's SUGGESTION and set to work on
the English end of the mysterious traffic.

About two that afternoon they swung round the Pointe de Grave into
the estuary of the Gironde. The tide, which was then flowing,
turned when they were some two-thirds of the way up, and it was well
on to seven o'clock when they made fast to the same decaying wharf
from which they had set out. Hilliard saw the owner, and arranged
with him to let the launch lie at one of his moorings until she
should be required. Then the friends went up town, got some dinner,