Apart from such association he was fond of the stick, which was a handsome one and beautifully mounted. How on earth was he to recover it? His initials were engraved on the head; that, however, would furnish but faint clue. How should he find the man whom he had befriended--and even if he did, it was quite possible that the other had lost possession of the stick during the scrimmage. It might or might not find its way to Scotland Yard, but to ascertain this would take time. He could make inquiries at the police stations adjacent to the scene of last night's _emeute_, or advertise, but that too would take time and he was urgently due at the abode of his _fiancee_ that very day, for his furlough was rapidly drawing to a close, and his return to India a matter of days rather than of weeks. Herbert Raynier served his country in the capacity of an Indian civilian, but most of his time of service had been passed in hot Plains stations, engendering an amount of constitutional wear and tear which caused him to look rather more than his actual age, such being in fact nearly through the thirties, but the sallowness of his naturally dark complexion had given way to a healthier bronze since he had come home on furlough five months back. By temperament he was a quiet man, and somewhat reserved, and this together with the fact that his countenance was not characterised by that square-jawed aggressiveness which is often associated in the popular estimation with parts, led people to suppose, on first acquaintance, that there was not much in him. Wherein they were wrong, although at the present moment there were chances of such latent abilities as he possessed being allowed to stagnate under sheer, easy-going routine: a potentiality which he himself recognised, and that with some concern. Physically he stood about five foot ten in his boots, and was well set up in proportion. He was fond of sport, though not aspiring to anything beyond the average in its achievement, and was not lacking in ideas nor in some originality in the expression of the same. As he sat finishing his after-breakfast cheroot in the club smoking-room there entered two of his brethren-in-arms of the night before. "There you are, Raynier, old chap. That's all right. Why didn't you roll up at the Peculiar after the fun? We were all there--Steele and Waring were doosid uneasy about you--thought you'd come to grief, that's why we thought we'd look in early and make sure you hadn't." "Early?" "Why, yes. It's only eleven. But I say, you jolly old cuckoo. You _have_ got a damaged figurehead." "Yes, it's a bore," pronounced Raynier, pushing the bell, to order "pegs." "And the worst of it is I've got to go down to the country this afternoon--to an eminently respectable vicarage, too." "Remedy's easy. Don't go." "That's no remedy at all. I must." "Stick a patch over the eye, then." "But he can't stick a patch over his head as well," said the other.