box over, so that the four rounded feet at its corners stood uppermost.
"I'll show it to you now," he said. "And I'll show you where old Matthew Palkeney had hidden it, probably intending before he died to tell you, Sperrigoe, where it was hidden. Now look here; there's a false bottom to this box. You unscrew these knobs so, one after the other. When they're unscrewed, like that, you lift this plate; there's a thin cavity between it and the inner floor of the box. And here's the document. I put it back in the box so that you could see for yourself where it had been concealed."
He tossed over the table the envelope which I had seen him take from Bickerdale. The solicitor picked it up eagerly. He drew out the sheet of letter paper which lay within, and his sharp, shrewd eyes had read whatever was written there in a few seconds. He gave a gasp; his big face flushed; he looked across at Parslewe.
"Good God, my dear sir!" he exclaimed. "Do—do you know what this—what this—this most important document—is?"
