this neurologist friend named rutherford were eating dinner at tempelhof, berlin with their old school-friend wyland. the topic of hugh conway comes up in conversation. he was a british consul in afghanistan, who disappeared mysteriously. rutherford tells the narrator later that evening that he met conway in a french mission hospital in chung-kiang (probably chongqing), china. conway had amnesia, but recovered his memory. he told rutherford his story, then disappeared again.