stolen—and there it is, on Parslewe's sideboard, here in Northumberland. That is—fact. Fact!"
He paused again, and we kept silence until it pleased him to go on.
"How did it get here?—or, rather, since nobody but Parslewe knows that, we can only deal with this—how did Sperrigoe find out that it was here? Mr. Craye has just told me one side of that, I can tell another. When Sperrigoe found that the copper box had been undoubtedly stolen, he had a thorough examination made of the contents of the library and checked by a printed catalogue kept there—for the library is famous. Then he found that several rare and valuable old books had disappeared with the copper box. Then he advertised. You know the rest. Parslewe had taken the copper box to Bickerdale; Bickerdale saw Sperrigoe's advertisement—and so on. And now, when Pawley, as Sperrigoe's advance agent, and then Sperrigoe himself, turn up to ask a direct question as to how he became possessed of the copper box, why does he run off?"
"Happening to know him," said Madrasia
