THE THREE GUARDIANS The anti-climax had struck the Hotel Tirol some hours before it came upon Brock and Miss Fowler.

It seems that Githens had gone first to the big hostelry in quest of light on the very puzzling dilemma in which he found himself involved.

Inquiries at the office only served to stir up a grave commotion among the clerks and managers, all of whom vociferously maintained that the hotel was entirely blameless if any deception had been practised.

The Tirol did not tolerate anything that savoured of the scandalous; the Tirol was a respectable house; the Tirol was ever careful, always rigid in the protection of its good name; and so on and so forth at great length and with great precision.

But Mr.Githens had two officers with him, and he demanded the person of the man calling himself Roxbury Medcroft.