Sit down and tell me all about it." "The dickens of it is there doesn't seem to be much to tell," said Narkom, accepting the invitation.

"Young Carboys, who appears to have been a decent sort of chap, had neither money, position, nor enemies, so that's an end to any idea of somebody having a reason for wishing to get rid of him; and, as he was devotedly attached to Miss Morrison, and was counting the very hours to the time of their wedding, and, in addition, had no debts, no entanglements of any sort, and no possible reason for wishing to disappear, there isn't the slightest ground for suspecting that he did so voluntarily." "Suppose you tell me the story from the beginning, and leave me to draw my own conclusions regarding that," said Cleek.

"Who and what was the man?
Was he living in the same house with his fiancee, then?
You say the disappearance occurred there, at night, and that he went into a bedroom.
Was the place his home, as well as Captain Morrison's, then ?" "On the contrary.

His home was a matter of three or four miles distant.
He was merely stopping at the Morrison's on that particular night; I'll tell you presently why and how he came to do that.

For the present, let's take things in their proper order.