He had indeed told me much, and much that was unsuspected by himself.  On that stormy night of his return, Carthew had told his story; the old lady had more upon her mind than mere bereavements; and among the mental pictures on which she looked, as she walked staring down the path, was one of Midway Island and the Flying Scud.

Mr. Denman heard my inquiries with discomposure, but informed me the shyster was already gone.

“Gone?” cried I.  “Then what can he have come for?  One thing I can tell you, it was not to see the house.”

“I don’t see it could have been anything else,” replied the butler.

“You may depend upon it it was,” said I.  “And whatever it was, he has got it.  By the way, where is Mr. Carthew at present?  I was sorry to find he was from home.”

“He is engaged in travelling, sir,” replied the butler, dryly.

“Ah, bravo!” cried I.  “I laid a trap for you there, Mr. Denman.  Now I need not ask you; I am sure you did not tell this prying stranger.”

“To be sure not, sir,” said the butler.

I went through the form of “shaking him by the ’and”—­like Mr. Norris—­not, however, with genuine enthusiasm.  For I had failed ingloriously to get the address for myself; and I felt a sure conviction that Bellairs had done better, or he had still been here and still cultivating Mr. Denman.

I had escaped the grounds and the cattle; I could not escape the house.  A lady with silver hair, a slender silver voice, and a stream of insignificant information not to be diverted, led me through the picture gallery, the music-room, the great dining-room, the long drawing-room, the Indian room, the theatre, and every corner (as I thought) of that interminable mansion.  There was but one place reserved; the garden-room, whither Lady Ann had now retired.  I paused a moment on the outside of the door, and smiled to myself.  The situation was indeed strange, and these thin boards divided the secret of the Flying Scud.

All the while, as I went to and fro, I was considering the visit and departure of Bellairs.  That he had got the address, I was quite certain:  that he had not got it by direct questioning, I was convinced; some ingenuity, some lucky accident, had served him.  A similar chance, an equal ingenuity, was required; or I was left helpless, the ferret must run down his prey, the great oaks fall, the Raphaels be scattered, the house let to some stockbroker suddenly made rich, and the name which now filled the mouths of five or six parishes dwindle to a memory.  Strange that such great matters, so old a mansion, a family so ancient and so dull, should come to depend for perpetuity upon the intelligence, the discretion, and the cunning of a Latin-Quarter student!  What Bellairs had done, I must do likewise.  Chance or ingenuity, ingenuity or chance—­so I continued to ring the changes as I walked down the avenue, casting back occasional glances at the red brick facade and the twinkling windows of the house.  How was I to command chance? where was I to find the ingenuity?