in a weekly paper?'

'_Cancer,_' I read out.

'It is the Latin for a crab. Likewise it is the name of a painful
disease. It is also a sign of the Zodiac.'

'_V. I_,' I read.

'There you have me. It sounds like the number of a motor-car.
The police would find out for you. I call this rather a difficult
competition. What's the prize?'

I passed him the paper. 'Who wrote it? It looks as if he had been
in a hurry.'

'Harry Bullivant,' I said.

Sandy's face grew solemn. 'Old Harry. He was at my tutor's.
The best fellow God ever made. I saw his name in the casualty list
before Kut. ... Harry didn't do things without a purpose. What's
the story of this paper?'

'Wait till after dinner,' I said. 'I'm going to change and have a
bath. There's an American coming to dine, and he's part
of the business.'

Mr Blenkiron arrived punctual to the minute in a fur coat like a
Russian prince's. Now that I saw him on his feet I could judge him
better. He had a fat face, but was not too plump in figure, and very