We found him in the private office, and
stated our errand without delay.
"Yes," he said, "Mr. Holladay kept in touch with the office, of
course. Let me see--what was the date?"
"Let us look for the first six months of 1876," I suggested.
He got down the file covering that period, and ran through the
letters.
"Yes, here they are," he said after a moment. "In January, he writes
from Nice, where they seem to have remained during February and March.
About the middle of April, they started north--here's a letter dated
Paris, April 19th--and from Paris they went to a place called
Etretat. They remained there through May, June, and July. That is all
the time covered by this file. Shall I get another?"
"No," I answered; "but I wish you'd make an abstract of Mr. Holladay's
whereabouts during the whole time he was abroad, and send it to our
office not later than this afternoon."
"Very well, sir," he said, and we left the room.
"But why didn't you let him go farther?" asked Mr. Graham, as we left
the building.
"Because I think I've found the place, sir," I answered. "Did you
notice--the time they stayed at Etretat covers the period of Miss
Holladay's birth, with which, I'm convinced, these people were in some
way concerned. We must look up Etretat."
A map at the office showed us that it was a little fishing hamlet and
seaside resort on the shore of the English Channel, not far north of
Havre.
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