"I don't see why Villiers was singled out for rough treatment," observed Harborough. "He had no personal enemies, had he?" Beverley shook his head. "Not to my knowledge," he replied. "Jack is one of the best, absolutely." "Perhaps you were the intended victim," suggested Claverhouse. "Oh!" ejaculated Harborough. "I won't contradict your supposal; but on what grounds, might I ask, do you make your assumption?" "The faked message was addressed to you," replied Alec. "Perhaps you're right," replied Harborough thoughtfully. "But it doesn't say much for the other fellows' intelligence department--mistaking Villiers for me. However, we must inform the police." "The police?" echoed Beverley, bearing in mind Sir Hugh's reluctance on a previous occasion to communicate with the law. "Unfortunately, yes," replied the baronet. "It is regrettable from a professional point of view, but we owe it to Jack Villiers. Hallo! The _Geier_ has gone." The Swedish-owned tramp had vanished from her accustomed berth. In her place lay a vessel very similar, even to the funnel-markings. "Suppose you didn't notice her go down stream, Beverley?" inquired Harborough. "By Jove!" exclaimed Bobby. "A tramp like her went out this morning--the _Zug_ of Malmo." "Possibly the same old hooker," commented Harborough. "Well, let's make for the police-station." Three days passed. The mystery of Jack Villiers' disappearance remained unsolved. A police-inspector called upon Kristian Borgen in his office, but the Swede gave a complete explanation of his movements. It was true, he stated, that the _Geier_ was bought by his firm and that her name was changed to _Zug_--a fact advertised beforehand in the press according to the requirements of the British Mercantile Shipping Act. The _Zug_ had sailed for the Baltic and was due at Stockholm on the 30th inst. Her clearance-papers were quite in order. The inspector, fully convinced that he had been put on a false trail, shook hands with Borgen, apologizing for having inconvenienced him, to which the amiable Swede replied that it was no inconvenience whatsoever, and that he was only too happy at all times to assist the law of the land that had offered him a temporary home. Meanwhile there was no cessation of activity in the work of fitting out the _Titania_. Everyone on board realized that Villiers would have wished it so. But there was a feeling of depression that it was impossible to shake off. The uncertainty of Jack Villiers' fate, on the eve of what promised to be a successful enterprise, cast a shadow of gloom upon the proceedings. The day of the _Titania's_ departure having been fixed, Harborough saw no insurmountable reason for postponing it, and the rest of the crew agreed with him. "If Villiers does turn up," he explained, "he can join us anywhere between here and Singapore; and delay will only mean increasing risks on the score of bad weather, to say nothing of the possibility of our rivals turning up before us."