Several of the drawers of the desk
were empty, save for stationery. One contained a bunch of letters, tied
up with blue ribbon--these, on examination, proved to be letters written
by Miss Wickham, at school in England, to her guardian in Australia. Miss
Wickham, present while Mr. Pawle and Viner searched, showed some emotion
at the sight of them.
"I used to write to him once a month," she said. "I had no idea that he
had kept the letters, though!"
The two men went silently on with their search. But there was no further
result. Ashton did not appear to have kept any letters or papers relative
to his life or doings prior to his coming to England. Private documents
of any sort he seemed to have none. And whatever business had taken him
to Marketstoke, they could find no written reference to it; nor could
they discover anything about the diamond of which Mr. Van Hoeren had
spoken. They went upstairs to his bedroom and examined the drawers,
cabinets and dressing-case--they found nothing.
"This is distinctly disappointing," remarked Mr. Pawle when he and Viner
returned to the little room. "I never knew a man who left such small
evidence behind him.
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