The American was
impressed by this mystery of the nine hundred horses. Sir Henry
had said it was a mystery in every direction.
Now, as he sat alone before the fire in the colony room of the
Empire Club and thought about it, the thing did seem
inexplicable. Why should the metropolitan police care who
imported horses, or in what port a shipload of them was landed?
The war was over. Nobody was concerned about the importation of
horses. Why should Sir Henry be so disturbed about it? But he
was disturbed; and he had rushed off to Paris to see an expert on
ciphers. That seemed a tremendous lot of trouble to take. The
Baronet knew the horses were on the sea coming from America, he
said. If he knew that much, how could he fail to discover the
boat on which they were carried and the port at which they would
arrive? Nobody could conceal nine hundred horses!
Hargrave was thinking about that, idly, before the glow of the
coal fire, when the second episode in this extraordinary affair
arrived.
A steward entered.
"Visitor, please," he said, "to see Mr. Hargrave."
Then he presented his tray with a card.
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