cleanliness, I resolved to inform him of this circumstance, but I
forgot it, alas! until--but I am anticipating my story.

His absence was strangely prolonged. I at last seated myself by
the fire, and lulled by warmth and the patter of the rain on the
window, I fell asleep. I may have dreamt, for during my sleep I
had a vague semi-consciousness as of hands being softly pressed on
my pockets--no doubt induced by the story of the robbery. When I
came fully to my senses, I found Hemlock Jones sitting on the other
side of the hearth, his deeply concentrated gaze fixed on the fire.

"I found you so comfortably asleep that I could not bear to awaken
you," he said, with a smile.

I rubbed my eyes. "And what news?" I asked. "How have you
succeeded?"

"Better than I expected," he said, "and I think," he added, tapping
his note-book, "I owe much to YOU."

Deeply gratified, I awaited more. But in vain. I ought to have
remembered that in his moods Hemlock Jones was reticence itself. I
told him simply of the strange intrusion, but he only laughed.

Later, when I arose to go, he looked at me playfully. "If you were
a married man," he said, "I would advise you not to go home until
you had brushed your sleeve. There are a few short brown sealskin
hairs on the inner side of your forearm, just where they would have
adhered if your arm had encircled a seal-skin coat with some
pressure!"