364 WITH KITCHENER IN THE SOUDAN see it plainly now. ‘Five hundred pounds reward will be given for any information concerning the present abode or death of Gregory Hilliard Hartley, or the whereabouts of his issue, if any. He left England about the year 1881. It is supposed that he went to the United States or to one of the British Colonies. Apply to Messrs. Tufton & Sons, solicitors, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.’

“ Ho you know when your father left England ? ” “He certainly left about that time. I am nineteen now, and I know that I was born a few weeks after he came out to Alexandria.”

“ Then there ought to be something good in store for you,” Colonel Wingate said; “people don’t offer a reward of five hundred pounds unless something important hangs to it. Of course there may be another of the same name, but it is hardly likely that anyone would bear the two same Christian names as well as surname. Is it indiscreet to ask you if you know anything about your father’s family ? ” “ Not at all, sir. Now that I have taken his name I need have no hesitation in relating what I know of him. Previous to his leaving England he married without his father’s consent, and failing to make a living in England he accepted a situation in Alexandria, which he gained, I may say, because he was an excellent Arabic scholar, as he had spent two years in exploring tombs and monuments in Egypt. He was the second son of the Honourable James Hartley, who was brother, and I believe heir, of the Marquis of Langdale, and I should think by this time has succeeded to the title. At his death my father’s eldest brother would of course succeed him.”

“ Then, my dear fellow,” Colonel Mahon said, giving him a hearty slap on the shoulder, “ allow me to congratulate you. I can tell you that the title has been in abeyance for the past fourteen years. Everyone knows the facts. Your grandfather died before the Marquis. Your uncle succeeded him, lived only three years, and being unmarried, your