"Read that, Mr. Harley," he directed. "Read it aloud."
Harley read as follows:
"Before Mr. Smith, at Marlborough Street Police Court, John
Edward Bampton was charged with assaulting a well-known clubman
in Bond Street on Wednesday evening. It was proved by the
constable who made the arrest that robbery had not been the
motive of the assault, and Bampton confessed that he bore no
grudge against the assailed man, indeed, that he had never seen
him before. He pleaded intoxication, and the police surgeon
testified that although not actually intoxicated, his breath had
smelled strongly of liquor at the time of his arrest. Bampton's
employers testified to a hitherto blameless character, and as the
charge was not pressed the man was dismissed with a caution."
Having read the paragraph, Harley glanced at the Major with a
puzzled expression.
"The point of this quite escapes me," he confessed.
"Is that so?" said Major Ragstaff. "Is that so, sir? Perhaps
you will be good enough to read this."
From his wallet he took a second newspaper cutting, smaller than
the first, and gummed to a sheet of club notepaper. Harley took
it and read as follows:
"Mr. De Lana, a well-known member of the Stock Exchange, who met
with a serious accident recently, is still in a precarious
condition.
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