"We are informed," the paragraph ran, "that the police here believe that
at length they are on the track of the clever gang of international
swindlers who were so successful in their bank forgeries two years ago.
Naturally enough, the authorities are very reticent as to names and other
details, but they declare that they have made a discovery which embraces
what is practically a new crime, or, at any rate, a very ingenious
variant upon an old one. As far as we can understand, the police were
first put on the track by the discovery of the fact that the head of the
gang had recently transported some boxes of gold dust to London. Quite by
accident this discovery was made, and, at first, the police were under
the impression that the gold had been stolen. When, however, they had
proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that the gold in question was
honestly the property of the gang, they naturally began to ask themselves
what it was intended for. As the metal could be so easily transferred
into cash, what was the object of the gang in taking the gold to Europe?
This question the Head of the Criminal Investigation Department feels
quite sure that he has successfully solved. The public may look for
startling developments before long. Meanwhile, two of the smartest
detectives in New York are on their way to Europe, and are expected to
reach Liverpool by the _Lusitania_ to-day."

"There is the source of the trouble," Venner said. "I hardly care about
telling you how I know, because the less information you have on this
head the better. And I don't want your face to betray you to the sharp
eyes of Mark Fenwick. But I am absolutely certain that that paragraph is
the source of all the mischief."

"I daresay it is," Vera sighed. "I feel so terribly lonely and frightened
sometimes, so afraid of something terrible happening, that I feel
inclined to run away and hide myself. What shall I do now, though I am