"By the way, Hora," he said, "if it's not impertinent to ask, what made you choose this infernally slow train to come to this part of the world?"

Guy had long had a lie prepared.

"Laziness," he answered lightly. "I missed the earlier one which would have taken me on to Hunstanton, where I have an appointment to-morrow morning. I found that I should be able to get on from Lynn in time to keep it, and so here I am. I'm glad I missed the fast train, as it has happened. I hate travelling alone."

Captain Marven made no reply. Guy could see that he was not satisfied, but he gave no hint that he had observed anything, and, when the journey was resumed, he kept up an easy flow of talk until Lynn was reached.

Then he bade Captain Marven good-bye, and, if the King's Messenger had any suspicion regarding the companion of his journey, there was no hint of it conveyed in his parting greeting.

CHAPTER VII
MERIEL MAKES AN IMPRESSION

Captain Marven was certainly not at ease in his own mind in regard to the experience on his journey. He seemed to remember awaking, and seeing in Guy's possession the despatch box that he carried. Yet in view of the fact that it was still buckled to the strap, the suspicion seemed absurd. As soon as he was alone he carefully examined the despatch case. The seals were to all appearances intact. He missed none of his personal belongings, and was ashamed of the suspicion which prompted his hurried search through his pockets. Really he had no reason to suspect Guy Hora of any ulterior object in hypnotising him. He recalled all the circumstances. At his own invitation Guy had travelled with him, he himself had pressed his companion to make the experiment. He had lost consciousness while Guy was sitting opposite him, and when he had regained it, Guy was still opposite him, and certainly did not exhibit the slightest trace of trepidation. But what had happened in the forty minutes interval which had elapsed between the losing and regaining of consciousness. Guy had told him that they had alighted at Cambridge and had drunk a cup of coffee at the refreshment room. But was that all? He could not banish the thought of the dream which had come to him during that hypnotic slumber, the vision of Guy Hora bending over the despatch case doing something to the seals, and of himself standing powerless to interfere with him. Was it only a dream? Yet it were foolish to suppose otherwise. What could the despatches he carried contain of interest to the wealthy young man about town, who seemed to him so like what his own son might have been? It was a puzzle which he could not elucidate, though it engaged his attention during his long motor drive to the royal residence; it was present in his thoughts when he placed the case in the hands of the Secretary of State, who, warned by telegraph of his coming, was waiting up for him, and he could not escape it even when he himself sought repose. It was the first thought in his mind when he awoke the next morning.

If he had been gifted with clairvoyant powers, he would not have needed to flog his brains for a solution. Could he have seen Lynton Hora gloating over the transcription of the cypher telegram which had reached him that morning from Guy, Captain Marven would have had an inkling of the truth. Could he later have seen Lynton Hora sending off wires to brokers at Paris, Berlin, and New York, could he have heard Lynton Hora instructing his London stockbroker over the telephone, he would have been still nearer a solution. Finally, could he have heard the Foreign Secretary's remarks later in the day, when a detailed account of an unfortunate incident in the South Pacific, in which a German gunboat and a British cruiser were concerned, appeared in an evening paper, he would have known that in some mysterious manner the information contained in the despatches he had carried had become known to the world.

Yet, though he knew not, nor could have known, any of these things, yet the vague uneasiness that there had been intention in Guy's presence on the train was not easily dispelled. It begot in him a still greater desire to learn something more of the young man whose face haunted his thoughts, and when he returned to town the next morning, carrying with him the answers to the stolen despatches, it was with the fixed intention of cultivating Guy's acquaintance, if the opportunity offered.

The chance he desired was not long presenting itself. A week had not elapsed before they met again. The meeting was a purely casual one. They recognised each other at the opera. Guy occupied a stall and the Captain was with his wife and niece in a box. At the end of the first act Guy left his seat. The Captain met him in the foyer.