nothing that was sensible."

"It is easy for us to criticise the man," remarked Beth, "and he may be
sorry, now, that he did not act differently. But I think, in his place,
I should have made the same attempt he did to unravel the mystery of his
lost identity. So much depended upon that."

"It's all very odd and incomprehensible," said Uncle John. "I wonder who
he can be."

"I suppose he calls himself Thursday because that was the day he first
found himself," observed Patsy.

"Yes; and Smith was the commonest name he could think of to go with it.
The most surprising thing," added their uncle, "is the fact that a man
of his standing was not missed or sought for."

"Perhaps," suggested Louise, "he had been insane and escaped from some
asylum."

"Then how did he come to be lying in a ditch?" questioned Patsy; "and
wouldn't an escaped maniac be promptly hunted down and captured?"

"I think so," agreed Mr. Merrick. "For my part, I'm inclined to accept
the man's theory that it was an automobile accident."

"Then what became of the car, or of the others in it?"

"It's no use," said Beth, shaking her head gravely. "If Thursday Smith,
who is an intelligent young man, couldn't solve the mystery himself, it