It had vanished. Thinking perhaps that the sudden application of the brakes had jerked it under the seat, the baronet made a comprehensive search, but without result. "Rotten luck," commented Villiers. "Might have been worse," rejoined Sir Hugh oracularly. "Let's get in and see what's doing. The commissionaire will give an eye to the car." He led the way to a large room on the ground floor. From the adjoining room came the subdued hum of voices. "Adventure aspirants," remarked Sir Hugh, nodding his head in the direction whence the sounds came. "You'll be my secretary _pro tem_., Villiers. Cast your eye over these letters and see if you recognize any of the writers." He handed Villiers a bundle of about thirty envelopes. "I know three of these names," replied Jack, after scanning the contents of the communications. "Merridew, O'Loghlin, and Fontayne." "Anything detrimental?" "To the contrary," replied Villiers. "Good! We'll see them first. But one moment, I want an advertisement drafted, something to this effect:--'Lost from car, between Winchester and Southampton, attaché-case, containing papers of no value except to owner--no, say owners. Finder will be liberally rewarded on returning same.' That ought to fetch 'em." "Is the loss a very serious matter," asked Villiers. "To someone," replied Harborough. "The case wasn't lost, it was stolen!" "Stolen?" repeated Jack incredulously. "Precisely," continued the baronet. "But I'll go into the matter with you later. Now let's interview Messrs. Merridew and Co." The three ex-officers were considerably surprised when Jack Villiers entered the room where they were waiting, and asked them to "come this way". "Something good on, old man?" inquired O'Loghlin. "Sure it is if you've got a finger in the pie." Villiers was non-committal. He did not like the responsibility of advising his former comrades on this particular point. But in less than five minutes the trio had "signed on", and were told to report at Thalassa Towers at eleven on the following morning. The next applicant was an R.N.R. officer, Swaine by name, whose chief qualification lay in the fact that he had been employed by a salvage company and was an experienced diver. "I should think there are plenty of openings for you in England," remarked Harborough. "So there are, sir," replied Swaine, pulling out a bunch of letters from his pocket. "I've half a dozen jobs to go to in the salvage line, but I've seen enough of the North Sea and the English Channel the last four years. Somewhere in the Pacific would suit me, although you didn't say where, sir. S'long as it's not off Vladivostok, the Behring Straits, or south of the Chloe Archipelago, I'm on it."