"I quite agree," said Harley, quietly, "that this is a very big point."

"You are beginning at last," suggested the Colonel, "to believe that my
suspicions are not quite groundless?"

"There is a distinct possibility that they are more than suspicions,"
agreed Harley; "but may I suggest that there is something else? Have
you an enemy?"

"Who that has ever held public office is without enemies?"

"Ah, quite so. Then I suggest again that there is something else."

He gazed keenly at his visitor, and the latter, whilst meeting the look
unflinchingly with his large dark eyes, was unable to conceal the fact
that he had received a home thrust.

"There are two points, Mr. Harley," he finally confessed, "almost
certainly associated one with the other, if you understand, but both
these so--shall I say remote?--from my life, that I hesitate to
mention them. It seems fantastic to suppose that they contain a clue."

"I beg of you," said Harley, "to keep nothing back, however remote it
may appear to be. It is sometimes the seemingly remote things which
prove upon investigation to be the most intimate."

"Very well," resumed Colonel Menendez, beginning to roll a second
cigarette whilst continuing to smoke the first, "I know that you are
right, of course, but it is nevertheless very difficult for me to
explain. I mentioned the attempted burglary, if so I may term it, in