of Mr. Druce she saw him often, and in her mind he was identical with the Duke of Portland.  As to her knowledge of the Duke her father was in the service of his Grace when she was a young girl, and she was familiar with his features.  Mr. Druce had a large bump on the left side of his forehead, which appeared to have been caused by a blow.  The Duke also had a bump, and in her opinion this resemblance was evidence that the owner of the Baker-street Bazaar and the Duke were one and the same person.  While these statements were causing some amount of public interest there was a new development in this extraordinary case.  The legal proceedings commenced by Mrs. Druce were widely reported in the Press and accounts of them reached Australia, where they were read by a man pursuing the calling of a miner.  His name is Mr. George Hollamby Druce, who put forward a prior claim to the Dukedom than that urged by Mrs. Druce on behalf of her son.

His contention is that the Duke, as T.C.  Druce, married in October, 1816, Miss Elizabeth Crickmer, of Bury St. Edmunds, by whom he had a son named George.  This youth took to a sea-faring life and eventually settled in Australia, where he had a son, namely Mr. George Hollamby Druce, whose claim to the title takes precedence of that set up by Mrs. Druce for the offspring of the second marriage with Annie May Berkeley.

The question of the exhumation of the body appears to be involved in legal technicalities as to the ownership of the vault.  At one time it was vested in the son of Mrs. Druce who commenced the litigation.  Then there appeared this other claimant, Mr. George Hollamby Druce, and it is said that the present owner of the vault, Mr. Herbert Druce, is not in favour of complying with Mr. G.H.  Druce’s wish to open it, therefore the secret of the grave remains unrevealed.

THE END

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The Anchor Press, Ltd., Tiptree Heath, Essex.