“But we have to catch him before we do that,” I said.

“Never-fear, we will do it,” he answered confidently, and that seemed to settle it.

Next morning at 8.50, we left Paris for Naples.

CHAPTER XI

It was in the early afternoon following our leaving Paris that we reached Naples.  By this time, in spite of our endeavours to prevent it, Miss Kitwater was quite tired out.  She certainly pretended not to be, but it was difficult, if not impossible, for her to conceal the fact.  Immediately on arrival we conveyed her to the best hotel, of the proprietor of which, Leglosse had already made inquiries, in order to find out whether or not Hayle had taken up his abode there.

It was with relief that we discovered that no person answering at all to his description was located there.  That done we commenced our search for the man we wanted.  We decided to first try the offices of the various steamers plying across the Mediterranean to Port Said.  Considerably to our amazement, however, we happened to be successful at the first cast.  A man signing himself Henry Gifford had applied for a first-class passage to Colombo, with the intention of changing at that port into another steamer for Hong Kong.

“What was he like?” I inquired of the clerk; “and did anything strike you as peculiar about him or his appearance?”

“Well, there was one thing,” he said.  “And at the time I must say I thought it funny.  When I asked him his name, he began ‘Gideon,’ and then suddenly corrected himself and said ‘Henry Gifford.’  I remember wondering whether he was using a false name or not.  He booked his passage at the last moment, and seemed in a great hurry to get aboard—­being afraid he would miss the boat.”

I questioned him as to the man’s general appearance, and when I had learned all he had to tell us, I was perfectly satisfied in my own mind that Hayle was the man who had gone aboard.

“He didn’t lose much time,” said Leglosse.  “Mark my words, he’ll leave the steamer at Port Said, and will either come back on his own tracks, or go up the Palestine Coast to Jaffa, and thence back to Europe.  What do you think is the best thing to be done?”

“See the agent of the company here and get him to telegraph to Port Said,” I answered.  “Both to their agent there and the captain of the steamer.  If the captain telegraphs back that Gifford is our man, we must wire to the police authorizing them to detain him pending our arrival.  There is a bit of risk attached to it, but if we want to catch him we must not think of that.”

We accordingly interviewed the agent and placed the case before him.  We told him who we were, and Leglosse explained to him that he held a warrant for the arrest of one Gideon Hayle, an individual whom he had every reason to believe was endeavouring to escape under the assumed name of Henry Gifford.  The clerk was next called in, and gave his evidence, and these matters having been settled, the telegrams were despatched to both the captain and the agent.