received.' But I'll stick to Theydon. See if I don't, even if I have
to go up with him in one of Forbes's airships."

CHAPTER V

A LEAP IN THE DARK

With the morning Theydon brought a mature and impartial judgment to
bear on his perplexities. The average man, if asked to form an opinion
on any difficult point, will probably arrive at a saner decision
during the first pipe after breakfast than at any other given hour of
the day. Excellent physiological reasons account for this truism. The
sound mind in a sound body is then working under the most favorable
conditions.

It is free from the strain of affairs. The cold, clear morning light
divests problems of the undue importance, or, it may be, the glamour
of novelty, which they possessed overnight. At any rate, Frank
Theydon, clenching a pipe between his teeth, and gazing thoughtfully
through an open window at the trees in Innesmore Gardens, reviewed
yesterday's happenings calmly and critically, and arrived at the
settled conviction that his proper course was to visit Scotland Yard
and make known to the authorities the one vital fact he had withheld
from their ken thus far.

It was not for him to assess the significance of Mr. Forbes's desire
to remain in the background. If the millionaire's excuse, or
explanation, of his failure to communicate at once with the Criminal
Investigation Department was a sufficiently valid one, Scotland Yard
would be satisfied and might agree to keep his name out of the