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 the world. If your bankers cannot find the letter after a certain length of time, they will reissue it, deducting your previous withdrawals. Tourists make so many strange requests, and are so irritable if we don't comply, that we are forced often to act against our judgment. If the messenger had been a native, he would never have got as far as the head of the stairs."

"He wasn't an Italian?"

"If he was, he was a supremely clever one. He talked and acted like an Englishman. A number of English stop here, so I have reason to believe that he was English."

"Well, so long as I can stop him from touching my money, that's enough for me. I don't blame you any. But it's some mystery. How'd he know it was in my grip? How'd he know that I wasn't carrying it? Sure, it might be chance, and then it mightn't."

William returned to his room, not at all grateful for this peculiar diversion. He undressed and sat down on the bed, smoking. Tobacco always had a way of loosening up the knots in his head. He groped backward. He recalled the robbery on board the Ajax and the subsequent return of the wallet, its contents intact.

"I got it!" He thwacked his thigh. "The guy that took my wallet took the letter of credit, too. That's the answer. But why pick on William Grogan? It don't listen right. Let's see. Who'd get any fun out of tripping me up? … Wops!"