"Well, I have found him," he said, triumphantly; "it is an extraordinary
thing," he went on, "that I should have done so, because I am not a
detective. I told Mr. Farrington quite a long time ago that I never
expected to make any discovery which would be of any use to him. You see
Mr. Farrington was not able to give me any very definite data to work
on. It appears that old Tollington had a nephew, the son of his dead
sister, and it was to this nephew that his fortune was left.
Tollington's sister had been engaged to a wealthy Chicago stockbroker,
and the day before the wedding she had run away with an Englishman, with
whom her family was acquainted, but about whom they knew very little.
She guessed that he was a ne'er-do-well, who had come out to the States
to redeem his fallen fortune. But he was not a common adventurer
apparently, for he not only refused to communicate with the girl's
parents, although he knew they were tremendously wealthy, but he never
allowed them to know his real name. It appears that he was in Chicago
under a name which was not his own. From that moment they lost sight of
him. In a roundabout way they learned that he had gone back to England
and that he had by his own efforts and labours established himself
there. This news was afterwards confirmed. The girl was in the habit of
writing regularly to her parents, giving neither her surname nor
address. They answered through the columns of the London _Times_. That
is how, though they knew where she was situated, all efforts to get in
touch with her proved to be unavailing; and when her parents died, and
her brother renewed his search, he was met with a blank wall. You see,"
Frank went on, a little naïvely, "it is quite impossible to discover
anybody when their name is not even known to one."
"I see," smiled the girl; "and have you succeeded where all these people
have failed?"
"I have hardly progressed so far as that," he laughed. "What I have
discovered is this: that the man, who seventy years ago left the United
States with the sister of old Tollington, lived for some years in Great
Bradley."
"Great Bradley!" she said, in surprise; "why, isn't that where Lady
Constance Dex lives?"
He nodded.
"Everybody seems to live there," he said, ruefully; "even our friend,"
he hesitated.
"Our friend?" she repeated, inquiringly.
"Your friend Poltavo is there now," he said, "permanently established as
the guest of Dr. Fall. You have heard of the Secret House?--but
everybody in England has heard of it."
"I am afraid that everybody does not include me," she smiled, "but go on
with your story; how did you find that he lived in Great Bradley?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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