"  When  I  arrived,"  she  said,  "  I — I  found
him  lying  dead!  He  had  expired  just  as  I  as-
cended the  stairs."

"  Then  you  learned  nothing,  eh?  "

"  Nothing,"  she  said  in  a  low  voice.  "  I  have
ever  since  wondered  what  could  have  been  the
private  matter  upon  which  he  so  particularly  de-
sired to  see  me.  He  felt  death  creeping  upon
him,  or — or  else  he  knew  himself  to  be  a  doomed
man — or  he  would  never  have  penned  me  that
note."

"  The  letter  in  question  was  not  mentioned  at
the  inquest? "

"  No.    My  stepfather  urged  me  to  regard  the


Reveals  a  Curious  Problem      127

affair  as  a  strict  secret.  He  feared  a  scandal  be-
cause I  had  gone  to  Harry's  rooms."

*  You  have  no  idea,  then,  what  was  the  na-
ture of  the  communication  which  the  captain
wished  to  make  to  you  ?  "  asked  the  novelist.
