Until that moment I had not thought much about the reason of my presence at Blyth--I had, at any rate, thought no more than that Scarterfield had merely come across some writing which he found it hard to decipher. But one glance at the documents which he placed in my hands showed me that he had accidentally come across a really important find; within another moment I was deeply engrossed, and he saw that I was. He sat silently watching me; once or twice, looking up at him, I saw him nod as if to imply that he had felt sure of the importance of the things he had given me. And presently, laying the documents on the table between us, I smiled at him. "Scarterfield!" I said. "Are you at all up in the history of your own country?" "Couldn't say that I am, Mr. Middlebrook," he answered with a shake of his head. "Not beyond what a lad learns at school--and I dare say I've forgotten a lot of that. My job, you see, has always been with the hard facts of the actual present--not with what took place in the past." "But you're up to certain notable episodes?" I suggested. "You know, for instance, that when the religious houses were suppressed--abbeys, priories, convents, hospitals--in the reign of Henry the Eighth, a great deal of their plate and jewels were confiscated to the use of the King?" "Oh, I've heard that!" he admitted. "Nice haul the old chap got, too, I'm given to understand." "He didn't get all," said I. "A great deal of the monastic plate disappeared--clean vanished. It used to be said that a lot of it was hidden away or buried by its owners, but it's much more likely that it was stolen by the covetous and greedy folk of the neighbourhood--the big men, of course. Anyway, while a great deal was certainly sent by the commissioners to the king's treasury in London, a lot more--especially in out-of-the-way places and districts--just disappeared and was never heard of again. Up here in the North of England that was very often the case. And all this is merely a preface to what I'm going to tell you. Have you the least idea of what these documents are?" "No," he replied. "Unless they're lists of something--I did make out that they might be, by the way the words and figures are arranged. Like--inventories."