oolish as to

lose himself i entirely refuse to accept the

responsibility of hunting for him."

"i quite understand your position," said holmes, with

a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "perhaps you don't

quite understand mine. godfrey staunton appears to

have been a poor man. if he has been kidnapped it

could not have been for anything which he himself

possesses. the fame of your wealth has gone abroad,

lord mount-james, and it is entirely possible that a

gang of thieves have secured your nephew in order to

gain from him some information as to your house, your

habits, and your treasure."

the face of our unpleasant little visitor turned as

white as his neckcloth.

"heavens, sir, what an idea! i never thought of such

villainy! what inhuman rogues there are in the world!

but godfrey is a fine lad -- a staunch lad. nothing

would induce him to give his old uncle away. i'll

have the plate moved over to the bank this evening.

in the meantime spare no pains, mr. detective! i beg

you to leave no stone unturned to bring him safely

back. as to money, well, so far as a fiver, or even a

tenner, goes, you can always look to me."

even in his chastened frame of mind the noble miser

could give us no information which could help us, for

he knew little of the private life of his nephew. our

only clue lay in the truncated telegram, and with a

copy of this in his hand holmes set forth to find a

second link for his chain. we had shaken off lord

mount-james, and overton had gone to consult with the

other members of his team over the misfortune which

had befallen them.

there was a telegraph-office at a short distance from

the hotel. we halted outside it.

"it's worth trying, watson," said holmes. "of course,

with a warrant we could demand to see the

counterfoils, but we have not reached that stage yet.

i don't suppose they remember faces in so busy a

place. let us venture it."

"i am sorry to trouble you," said he, in his blandest

manner, to the young woman behind the grating; "there

is some small mistake about a telegram i sent

yesterday. i have had no answer, and i very much fear

that i must have omitted to put my name at the end.

could you tell me if this was so?"

the young woman turned over a sheaf of counterfoils.

"what o'clock was it?" she asked.

"a little after six."

"whom was it to?"

holmes put his finger to his lips and glanced at me.

"the last words in it were 'for god's sake,'" he

whispered, confidentially; "i am very anxious at

getting no answer."

the young woman separated one of the forms.

"this is it. there is no name," said she, smoothing

it out upon the counter.

"then that, of course, accounts for my getting no

answer," said holmes. "dear me, how very stupid of

me, to be sure! good morning, miss, and many thanks

for having relieved my mind." he chuckled and rubbed

his hands when we found ourselves in the street once

more.

"well?" i asked.

"we progress, my dear watson, we progress. i had

seven different schemes for getting a glimpse of that

telegram, but i could hardly hope to succeed the very

first time."

"and what have you gained?"

"a starting-point for our investigation." he hailed a

cab. "king's cross station," said he.

"we have a journey, then?"

"yes; i think we must run down to cambridge together.

all the indications seem to me to point in that

direction."

"tell me," i asked, as we rattled up gray's inn road,

"have you any suspicion yet as to the cause of the

disappearance? i don't think that among all our cases

i have known one where the motives are more obscure.

surely you don't really imagine that he may be

kidnapped in order to give information against his

wealthy uncle?"

"i confess, my dear watson, that that does not appeal

to me as a very probable explanation. it struck me,

however, as being the one which was most likely to

interest that exceedingly unpleasant old person."

"it certainly did that. but what are your alternatives?"

"i could mention several. you must admit that it is

curious and suggestive that this incident should occur

on the eve of this important match, and should involve

the only man whose presence seems essential to the

success of the side. it may, of course, be

coincidence, but it is interesting. amateur sport is

free from betting, but a good deal of outside betting

goes on among the public, and it is possible that it

might be worth someone's while to get at a player as

the ruffians of the turf get at a race-horse. there

is one explanation. a second very obvious one is that

this young man really is the heir of a great property,

however modest his means may at present be, and it is

not impossible that a plot to hold him for ransom

might be concocted."

"these theories take no account of the telegram."

"quite true, watson. the