J. S. Fletcher

“ The lid of the box opened by the pressure of a spring. The interior was as brightly polished as the exterior. And on the lid, scratched into the silver by some sharp instrument, was a sort of drawing or diagram, the meaning of which it was at first sight impossible to understand. ”

“ Every year a few artists set up their easels in its nooks and corners; a few people who love quiet and the smell of the sea visit it, but for all other purposes it is still out of the world. Leycaster is, in short, what the old topographers call a decayed town. But even in such a place things can happen.
Danthorpe is a wise man. He refused to say a word of business until we had luncheon. But as soon as we had come to the coffee and the cigars, he drew his chair closer to mine.
“Now then, Campenhaye,” he said, “we’ll start out on this affair. ”

“ And without remark, I took out my notebook and made an accurate reproduction of them.
[Illustration: Marks on the tobacco-box lid]
“Now, what on earth do you make those scratches out to be?” said Danthorpe. “Are they signs, symbols, hieroglyphics, or what are they? Are they accidental, are they a mere whim, or are they there of set purpose? Does a man make marks in a good silver tobacco-box like that for nothing? And there’s another thing. Does a man——”
“My dear fellow,” I exclaimed, interrupting him, “don’t tax my brains too much. ”

“ Your information about the diamonds, and your suggestion about Old Leycaster, supplied the missing links in my chain. I always was a good hand at theorising. This theory was—an inspiration! "“I am not Professor Craig-Johnstone, though I am interested in his subjects. Never mind who I am. I was once an honest man. And I am still, as I have shown to you, a scholar, and
“A Man of Brains.” Danthorpe looked at me long and sadly.
“It strikes me, Campenhaye,” he said at last, “that our visitor of last night was, in his way, a genius. ”

“ Yes; but I’m sure I never told you about the affair of the diamonds,” said Danthorpe. “It was this—some little time before Meadows was found out, there was the annual County Ball held there, and Lord and Lady Lowthorpe were to be present. Now, the Lowthorpes belong to the poorer order of the peerage; but there are some very fine heirlooms in the family, including diamonds which are worth at least twenty thousand pounds. These diamonds were usually kept at a London bank. Lady Lowthorpe wanted to wear them at our ball. ”

“ That evening, photographs of the deceased began to appear in some of the London and provincial evening newspapers; next morning they appeared all over England, and side by side with these were printed reproductions of the extraordinary marks which had been discovered within the lid of the tobacco-box. And by breakfast time on that morning, Danthorpe received a wire from Portland saying that a warder was just setting off for Leycaster and would see the body of the unknown man, requesting that it might not be interred until he had seen it. ”

“ Here Danthorpe produced something wrapped in tissue paper, and, laying it on the table, placed his hand on it.
“I’ll tell you about this later,” he said. “It’s this that I’ve really brought you down to see, Campenhaye. But first let me finish about the dead man. Of course, we wanted to find out who he was. In a little place like this that was easily done. We soon discovered that he arrived here—from London, remember, though it seems of no importance—at half-past five yesterday afternoon. He carried a small suit-case, and walked straight to his hotel and booked a room in the name of John Smith. ”

“ A noted professor—a Cambridge man—a man of substance and reputation. Why not?
“Yes,” I said. “I think we may.”
We returned to the library, and found Professor Craig-Johnstone inspecting a map of the town and neighbourhood which hung on the wall. Danthorpe produced cigars, and some of his famous brown sherry, and, sitting down again, we put the visitor in possession of the whole story of Meadows, the Lowthorpe diamonds, and of Charles Lewes. ”

“ The professor bowed, and Danthorpe and I went out and into the next room.
“Campenhaye,” said Danthorpe, “what do you think of that? It seems to me that this chap has hit the right nail on the head. That diagram shows where Meadows hid the Lowthorpe diamonds.”
“It seems very like it,” I replied. “Uncommonly like it.”
“Very well. The thing is—shall I tell our visitor the story of the diamonds?”
“Why?”
“Because it seems to me that you and I, not being experts, nor archæologists, nor antiquarians, might search these parts for a year and a day without coming across that stone. He is an expert ”

“ He might be one of the better sort of the criminal class, who, bent on some enterprise or other, had taken care that in the event of arrest no immediate means of identification should be found upon him. It was certainly unusual that a well-dressed man, with money in his pockets, should be devoid of even a visiting-card ”

“ Without doubt, gentlemen, this diagram, incised roughly on the lid of this silver box, is a drawing of an Ogham inscription on some stone. I will stake my professional reputation upon it.”
Danthorpe and I looked at each other. I think the same notion, or ghost of a notion, rose up within our minds at that moment. And Danthorpe turned to his visitor.
“You say, professor, that the known stones on which this writing is found in England are all on this East Coast?” he said.
“Yes. And they are very, very few in number ”