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“You may imagine the astonishment of the latter on seeing not only the coin with which he was familiar, but the scroll covered with similar symbols. Nor did he fail to astonish your uncle in his turn. Taking him to another part of the building he showed him some grey, fibrous-looking slabs of dried pulp, and they too were covered with the oblong, square, and parallel figures of the document, only that instead of being raised they were indented. They were, as Mr. Barstock explained, squeezings, taken from the temple facade at Chichitza, where M. Lessaution was now conducting his investigations.

“The Frenchman’s theory was that by comparing the Egyptian symbol with that in Yucatan, and using the grammar and accidence of the former language as a guide to the latter, these inscriptions, which have as yet been undecipherable, would be made clear, and much would be learned about the Mayan civilization of long ago.

“This was quite enough for your uncle. He decided that he would not wait for M. Lessaution’s return, which was not expected for another six months, but would cross the Atlantic and interview him on the spot where he was conducting his experiments. After reading the letter left by your ancestor, I can quite understand that to a man of leisure like his lordship, and a man with a taste for wandering to boot, the fascination of such a quest would be great. At any rate he sailed for Greytown about five months ago, and with the exception of a single letter purely on business matters I have heard no word from him since. You can imagine that his death has come as a shock.”