‘I shall order it, Mr. Blake,’ said Mr. Macrae, ’but it will be to remove this person, whom I especially forbade to molest any of my guests.  I don’t know how I forgot to tell you who he is, a detective; the others were told.’

‘He confounded himself in excuses; it was horribly awkward.’

‘Horribly!’ said Merton.

‘He rated the man for visiting his guests’ rooms without his knowledge.  I dare say the parson has turned over all your things.’

Merton blenched.  He had some of the correspondence of the Disentanglers with him, rather private matter, naturally.

‘He had not the key of my despatch box,’ said Merton.

‘He could open it with a quill, I believe,’ said Blake.  ’They do—­in novels.’

Merton felt very uneasy.  ‘What was the end of it?’ he asked.

’Oh, I said that if the man was within his duty the accident was only one of those which so singular a misfortune brings with it.  I would stay while Mr. Macrae wanted me.  I handed over my keys, and insisted that all my luggage and drawers and things should be examined.  But Mr. Macrae would not listen to me, and forbade the fellow to enter any of—­the bedrooms.’

‘Begad, I’ll go and look at my own despatch box,’ said Merton.

‘I shall sit in the shade,’ said Blake.

Merton did examine his box, but could not see that any of the papers had been disarranged.  Still, as the receptacle was full of family secrets he did not feel precisely comfortable.  Going out on the lawn he met Mr. Macrae, who took him into a retired place and told him what had occurred.

’I had given the man the strictest orders not to invade the rooms of any of my guests,’ he said; ‘it is too odious.’

The Rev. Mr. Williams being indisposed, dined alone in his room that night; so did Blake, who was still far from well.

The only other incident was that Donald Macdonald and the new gillie, Duncan Mackay, were reported to be ’lying around in a frightfully dissolute state.’  Donald was a sober man, but Mackay, he explained next morning, proved to be his long lost cousin, hence the revel.  Mackay, separately, stated that he had made Donald intoxicated for the purpose of eliciting any guilty secret which he might possess.  But whisky had elicited nothing.

On the whole the London detectives had not been entirely a success.  Mr. Macrae therefore arranged to send both of them back to Lairg, where they would strike the line, and return to the metropolis.

Merton had casually talked of Logan (Lord Fastcastle) to Mr. Macrae on the previous evening, and mentioned that he was now likely to be at Inchnadampf.  Mr. Macrae knew something of Logan, and before he sped the parting detectives, asked Merton whether he thought that he might send a note to Inchnadampf inviting his friend to come and bear him company?  Merton gravely said that in such a crisis as theirs