have the goodness to look at this?"

From the empty grate Gurdon picked up a half smoked cigar of a somewhat
peculiar make and shape.

"I want you to notice this little bit of evidence," he said. "This is the
very cigar that the cripple gave me last night. I can't say that I
altogether enjoyed smoking it, but it was my tip to humor him. I smoked
that much. When the white lady came in I naturally threw the end of the
cigar into the fireplace. In the face of this, I don't think you will
accuse me of dreaming."

More than one cigar was consumed before Venner left his friend's rooms,
but even the inspiration of tobacco failed to elucidate a solitary point
at issue. What had become of the cripple, and where had he vanished so
mysteriously? Gurdon was still debating this point over a late breakfast
the following morning, when Venner came in. His face was flushed and his
manner was excited. He carried a copy of an early edition of an evening
paper in his hand--the edition which is usually issued by most papers a
little after noon.

"I think I've discovered something," he said. "It was quite by accident,
but you will not fail to be interested in something that appears in the
_Comet_. It alludes to the disappearance of a gentleman called Bates, who
seems to have vanished from his house in Portsmouth Square. You know the
name of the Square, of course?"

Gurdon pushed his coffee cup away from him, and lighted a cigarette. He
felt that something of importance was coming.