It seemed plain to Brant that the dispatch-box had been conveyed here and opened for security on this desk, and in the hurry of examining the papers the flower had been jostled and the fallen grains of pollen overlooked by the spy.

There were one or two freckles of red on the desk, which made this accident appear the more probable.

But he was equally struck by another circumstance.

The desk stood immediately before the window.

As he glanced mechanically from it, he was surprised to see that it commanded an extensive view of the slope below the eminence on which the house stood, even beyond his furthest line of pickets.