"Nothing," he said, "and if the original had not been stolen I should not have troubled to study it."
A contents bill attracted his attention, and he stopped to buy an evening newspaper.
He turned the paper before he discovered the small paragraph that justified so large a bill.
"The Brazilian Government has sent another cruiser to search for the Brazilian man-of-war, _Maria Braganza_, which is a month overdue. It is feared that the warship foundered in the recent cyclone in the South Atlantic."
"_Maria Braganza?_" thought T. B., and remembered where he had seen the vessel.
The ship and her fate passed out of his mind soon afterward, for he had a great deal of routine work requiring his attention, but the name cropped up again in the course of the day and in a curious manner.
A drunken sailor, obviously of foreign extraction, was ejected, fighting, from a small public-house in the Edgware Road. He rose from the ground slowly, and stood apparently debating in his mind whether he should go away quietly or whether he should return to the attack. It is not too much to say that had he decided upon the pacific course, the mystery of the whereabouts of the Nine Bears might never have been elucidated. In that two seconds of deliberation hung the fates of Baggin and his confederates, and the reputation of Scotland Yard.
The foreign sailor made up his mind. Back to the swing-doors of the tavern he staggered, pushed them open, and entered.
A few minutes later a police-whistle blew, and a commonplace constable strolled leisurely to the scene of the disturbance and took into custody the pugnacious foreigner on a charge of "drunk and disorderly."
This was the beginning of the final fight with the "Bears," a fight which cost Europe over a million of money and many lives, but which closed forever the account of the Nine Bears of Cadiz.
"Here is a case that will amuse you, T. B.," said the Chief, strolling into his bureau; "a man, giving the name of Silva, who has been taken to the police-station on the prosaic charge of 'D. and D.,' is found to be a walking cash deposit. Twelve hundred pounds in Bank of England notes and 26,000 francs in French money was found in his possession. He speaks little or no English, has the appearance of being a sailor--will you go down and see what you can make of him?"