"Take that to the vicarage of St. Saviour's, and deliver it to the Rev. Mr. Saintly," he said. "If he asks you any questions, answer them--truthfully. After that you may return to Willowby Old Church and put up for the night. We shall not need you again until to-morrow. Move lively, lad, and the quicker you get that note into the vicar's hands and take yourself out of Valehampton, the better I shall be pleased." "Do both inside of the next five minutes, sir; the river path has brought us round on the other side of the church--there's her spire just above those trees to the left. Good-night! I'm off." And so he was, so swiftly that it might almost be said that at the very moment he spoke the moonlit landscape held no trace of any living thing but a silk-hatted Narkom and dapper Cleek standing in the middle of the road and looking very much out of keeping with their surroundings. The Superintendent looked at his watch, saw that its hands pointed to twenty minutes to eleven, and then faced round on Cleek. "And now what, old chap?" he inquired. The habit of blind obedience to the lead of his famous ally had become a fixed one with the Superintendent, who was nevertheless most alert when in charge of affairs himself. "I suppose you know what you're about, but I don't. It seems to me that, having sent Lennard off for good, you've done us out of all hope of finding a bed anywhere to-night. And I'm blest if I shall relish prowling about the neighbourhood in this sort of a get-up until morning." "Oh, don't worry. You will get a bed, I promise you. Indeed, the matter is the one uppermost in my mind at this minute--the reason for our presence here--only it happens to be a bed of another colour from the one you're demanding. It is, in short, the bed of a river--this one beside us." "Now what the devil can the bed of a river have to do with the matter in hand?" "That is precisely what I am anxious to settle to my own satisfaction. It is almost the last point in the case which we have to investigate; and it is an extremely interesting one. Brush up your memory a bit, Mr. Narkom. Part of that extraordinary prophecy was that the river should become choked, and, according to the duke, choked it has become." "Oh, ah! Yes, I remember. Shoals formed, didn't they?" "Exactly. And I am extremely anxious to discover why. Perhaps we may, presently. You observe that we are at the point where the stream begins to narrow perceptibly. As yet, however, I perceive no sign of shoals. Still, if we follow this narrowing course for a time---- Come on." They walked on, and for the next ten or fifteen minutes they scarcely spoke a word, keeping their eyes fixed steadily on the ever-narrowing stream, but finding nothing to reward them for their diligence. "It will be a fake, I'm afraid, Cleek." "Possibly; but I doubt it. It is one of the essential points--a thing so absolutely necessary that, if it doesn't exist, I'm on the wrong scent, that's all."