“Think it all over, and bear in mind that Lord Tremarn _never_ made the slightest attempt to prove the rights or wrongs of the impostor’s claim. On this base your own conclusions, and then see if they do not inevitably lead you to admit mine as the only possible solution of this double mystery.” He was gone, leaving me bewildered and amazed, staring at my _Daily Telegraph_, where, side by side with a long recapitulation of the mysterious claimant of the Earldom there was the following brief announcement: “We regret to say that the condition of Lord Tremarn is decidedly worse to-day, and that but little hope is entertained of his recovery. Mr. Harold Le Cheminant has been his uncle’s constant and devoted companion during the noble Earl’s illness.” VIII. The Fate of the _Artemis_ Chapter I “Well, I’m ——!” was my inelegant mental comment upon the news in that morning’s paper. “So are most people,” rejoined the man in the corner, with that eerie way he had of reading my thoughts. “The _Artemis_ has come home, having safely delivered her dangerous cargo, and Captain Jutland’s explanations only serve to deepen the mystery.” “Then you admit there is one in this case?” I said. “Only to the public. Not to me. But I do admit that the puzzle is a hard one. Do you remember the earlier details of the case? It was towards the end of 1903. Negotiations between Russia and Japan were just reaching a point of uncomfortable tension, and the man in the street guessed that war in the Far East was imminent. “Messrs. Mills and Co. had just completed an order for a number of their celebrated quick-firing guns for the Russian Government, and these—according to the terms of the contract—were to be delivered at Port Arthur on or about 1st February, 1904. Effectively, then, on 1st December last, the _Artemis_, under the command of Captain Jutland, sailed from Goole, with her valuable cargo on board, and with orders to proceed along as fast as possible, in view of the probable outbreak of hostilities. “Less than two hours after she had started, Messrs. Mills received intimation from the highest official quarters, that in all probability before the _Artemis_ could reach Port Arthur, and in view of coming eventualities, the submarine mines would have been laid at the entrance to the harbour. A secret plan of the port was therefore sent to the firm for Captain Jutland’s use, showing the only way through which he could possibly hope to navigate the _Artemis_ safely into the harbour, and without which she would inevitably come in contact with one of those terrible engines of wholesale destruction, which have since worked such awful havoc in this war.