So you must choose." "My verdict," said Mr.Bellingham, "is _fiat experimentum_, though I won't complete the quotation, as that would seem to disparage Doctor Barnard's piano.

But before you begin, Ruth, there is one rather disagreeable matter that I want to dispose of, so that I may not disturb the harmony with it later." He paused, and we all looked at him expectantly.
"I suppose, Doctor Thorndyke," he said, "you read the newspapers ?" "I don't," replied Thorndyke.

"But I ascertain, for purely business purposes, what they contain." "Then," said Mr.Bellingham, "you have probably met with some accounts of the finding of certain human remains, apparently portions of a mutilated body ?" "Yes, I have seen those reports and filed them for future reference." "Exactly.

Well, now, it can hardly be necessary for me to tell you that those remains--the mutilated remains of some poor murdered creature, as there can be no doubt they are--have seemed to have a very dreadful significance for me.

You will understand what I mean; and I want to ask you if--if they have made a similar suggestion to you." Thorndyke paused before replying, with his eyes bent thoughtfully on the floor, and we all looked at him anxiously.
"It is very natural," he said at length, "that you should associate these remains with the mystery of your brother's disappearance.