"A restatement of my theory may clear things up. Through a combination of certain circumstances, exerting upon him a peculiar influence, David is living again in an environment and through a set of experiences that belong to him only when he is in what we call a condition of secondary personality. Discover that environment--the same, I believe, as the one in which he was lost three years ago--and you will discover David." Leighton made no comment. He regarded Raoul with characteristic immobility. One gathered from his silence, however, that he was impressed with what he had just heard. Slowly pacing the length of the sala, he stopped before General Herran, who, through his ignorance of English, was in a quite helpless state of bewilderment at the turn the interview between the two men had taken. "This young man will help us find Meudon," said Leighton in his broken Spanish. "He knows where he is?" asked Herran eagerly. "He knows--something," replied the savant with significant emphasis. "For one thing, General, those pistol shots you had with Meudon seem to have played the devil." "Caramba! Does he say so? But that is foolishness!" "No, it is theory," said Leighton drily. "How will he prove it?" "By finding Meudon." There was a finality in the tone of Leighton's rejoinder which, more than the words themselves, indicated the seeker's conviction that the road to David's discovery was in plain view. Raoul Arthur, however, said nothing. Standing aloof from his two visitors, apparently not heeding them, his silence aroused Leighton's curiosity. "Naturally, I depend on you, Arthur," said the old man, with an emphasis that sounded like a threat. "I don't know why," he demurred. "David was with your party when this happened. I failed to find him three years ago, you know." "There is no proof that you did anything then to rescue the man who was your friend and business partner," retorted Leighton. "This time failure might be fatal--for you." The words and Leighton's manner had their effect. Shaking off his real, or assumed, apathy, Raoul faced his accuser angrily. "I have given you the one clew of which I have any knowledge," he said, meeting Leighton for the first time eye to eye. "I have done what I could, I will still do what I can. But I won't act at the dictation of a man of whom I know nothing, whom I never even met until this moment." "That's all very well," replied the other imperturbably. "But, as I said, I depend on you--quite naturally, it seems to me--to help in the recovery of your friend. My niece and I are in this country for the express purpose of solving David's former disappearance." "Your niece?" "Yes; the woman whom David expects to marry." Raoul's defiant attitude vanished before this announcement. Irritation gave place to amazement, distrust turned to friendliness. Nor did he attempt to conceal his appetite for further news of David's personal affairs.