"By the way," said the Englishman, "you said that you expected to pick up special instructions in New York. Did you receive them?"
"That's right!" exclaimed Harry. "An envelope was waiting for me at Duncan's house. Abdul gave it to me. Here it is."
Harry read the letter carefully, then tossed the paper into the fire. The Englishman noted that it turned over as it fell, but he did not observe writing on either side. The fact struck him as curious, yet he made no comment.
"Important instructions," said Harry. "First, no more wireless messages are necessary until Tuesday. We must be careful in our actions. We are to use our own judgment in finding the sixth man."
"Good," remarked the Englishman approvingly.
"If we find the man," resumed Harry, "I shall report immediately. But we must not, under any circumstances, tell him of Bruce Duncan's miraculous escape."
"Why not?"
"It sounds too incredible. Our story is simply this: Duncan and I met you by chance and explained matters. We decided not to visit the meeting place at the time appointed. Duncan, acting independently, disappeared. We do not know where he is. We cannot understand it.
"We are afraid that he visited the ruins at midnight, yet we can scarcely believe that he could have been so foolhardy as to have gone alone. We are acting cautiously; hence we have not investigated. We know that danger lurks, and we are waiting for the crucial time before we take a single step. That time will be Wednesday — the day originally set for the authentic meeting."
"Very well," agreed the Englishman. "I must confess that I would not have believed Duncan's story under ordinary circumstances. The idea seems to me to be the correct one. Let us set our minds to it; in all our conversation, we must speak of Duncan as one who has disappeared."