Page:Guy Boothby--A Bid for Fortune.djvu/103

Rh and I felt sure that he did not possess any too much love for me.

As my thoughts were still centred on him, my astonishment may be imagined, on arriving at the building, at meeting him face to face upon the steps. He seemed dumbfounded at seeing me, and hummed and hawed over his "good afternoon" for all the world as if I had caught him in the middle of some guilty action.

Returning his salutation, I entered the building and looked about me for a desk at which to write my wire. There was only one vacant, and I noticed that the pencil suspended on the string was still swinging to and fro as it had been dropped. Now Baxter had only just left the building, so I settled it in my own mind that it must have been he who had last used the stand. I pulled the form towards me and prepared to write. But as I did so I noticed that the previous writer had pressed so hard upon his pencil as to leave the exact impression of his message plainly visible upon the pad. It ran as follows:

"."

It was addressed to "Nikola, Green Sailor Hotel, East India Dock Road, London," and was signed "Nineveh."

The message was so curious that I looked at it again, and the longer I looked the more certain I became that Baxter was the sender. Partly because its wording interested me and partly for another reason which will become apparent later on, I inked the message over, tore it from the pad, and placed it carefully in my