CHAPTER IX

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DOROTHY'S DOUBLE

BY G. A. HENTY

AUTHOR OF 'RUJUB THE JUGGLER' 'IN THE DAYS OF THE MUTINY' 'THE CURSE OF

CARNE'S HOLD' ETC.

IN THREE VOLUMES--VOL. II.

London

CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY

1894

PRINTED BY

SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE

LONDON

DOROTHY'S DOUBLE

CHAPTER IX

Just before twelve o'clock on the following day Mr. Hawtrey's carriage

drew up at Charles Levine's office. In the waiting room they found

Danvers, who had arrived shortly before them.

'Thank you for coming,' Mr. Hawtrey said, as he shook hands with him; 'I

think I am rather afraid of Levine by himself. Of course I know that he

is the best adviser one can have in a business of this sort, but that

way he has of lifting his eyebrows makes me nervous. I feel as David

Copperfield did with that man-servant of Steerforth's; he thought him

very young indeed. It does not make me feel young, but rather that he is

considering me to be an old fool. I don't suppose he means exactly that,

but that is the impression I get from those eyebrows of his.'

'I am sure he does not mean that, Mr. Hawtrey,' Danvers laughed, 'though

it may be that the action is expressive of a passing doubt in his mind,

or rather of his perceiving some point that is unfavourable to the cause

he is retained to defend. I hope you have come here to say that you

agree with our view in the matter.'

'You will hear presently, Danvers. I came to that conclusion yesterday,

but the position is somewhat changed.'

At this moment the door opened, and a clerk asked them to follow him, as

Mr. Levine was now disengaged.

'This is your client--my daughter Dorothy,' Mr. Hawtrey said, as he

introduced her to the lawyer; 'this is Mr. Singleton, an old friend and

neighbour of ours.'

Mr. Levine shook hands with Dorothy, looking at her scrutinisingly as he

did so; she looked as frankly at him.

'So you thought I was guilty, Mr. Levine?'

'I am sure that your father will do me the justice to say that I said

nothing that could in any way be construed into such an opinion, Miss

Hawtrey,' he replied, courteously.

'Perhaps not, but you thought so all the same. I am learning to be a

thought reader. I saw that, and also I think that a slight feeling of

doubt came into your mind as you shook hands.'

'I must be careful, I see,' he said, smiling; 'however, without either

admitting or denying anything, I may say that I am glad that Mr. Hawtrey

brought you with him.'

'And now, Mr. Levine,' Mr. Hawtrey said, 'I will tell you what we have

come about. Yesterday we had quite made up our minds to take your

advice, although my daughter assented to it only with the greatest

reluctance. A fresh complication has occurred which I will leave Mr.

Singleton to tell for himself.'

Mr. Levine took up a pen and prepared to take notes, as Mr. Singleton

began the story with his conversation with Dorothy at Mrs. Dean's. At

the point when Dorothy called her father, Mr. Levine interposed.

'Pardon me for interrupting you, but it is very important that I should

understand the position exactly before you go farther. Whatever this

matter may be of which you are about to tell me, do I understand that it

was one entirely between Miss Hawtrey and yourself?'

'Entirely.'

'It was one of which you never intended to have spoken, and of which

Miss Hawtrey felt perfectly confident that under no circumstances

whatever would you have revealed it?'

'Certainly, I have known her from a child, and nothing whatever would

have induced me to have mentioned it to any one, and Miss Hawtrey had, I

am certain, an absolute confidence that I would not do so.'

'It was then, therefore, a wholly spontaneous action on the part of Miss

Hawtrey in summoning her father to her side, and asking him to take you

home with him.'

'Entirely so; I was myself absolutely bewildered at what appeared to me

her determination to make her father acquainted with the particulars of

the painful scenes of which I will now tell you.'

And he then related the particulars of the interview in his chambers.

'At the time,' he concluded, 'no doubt whatever entered my mind, that

the person who called upon me was Miss Hawtrey. Thinking it over now,

and having an absolute confidence in her, I see that I may have been

mistaken; she was veiled when she entered, and in all the years I have

known Miss Hawtrey I have never seen her wear a veil. A veil certainly

alters the appearance of a face, and for an instant when she entered I

did not recognise her, but the likeness must be very great, for my

hesitation was only momentary. Afterwards she had a handkerchief up to

her face during the greater part of the interview, and during the whole

time she spoke in a low voice broken by sobs. No doubt there must be

some similarity between the voices, but heard in that way it was so

different from her usual outspoken tones, that I should be sorry to be

called upon to swear whether at other times it would resemble her voice

or not.'

'I may add, Mr. Levine,' Mr. Hawtrey said, when he had finished, 'that I

have this morning received a bill from Allerton's, where my daughter

usually gets things, for four silk dresses and two mantles which were

ordered on the same day and at about the same hour at which the jewels

were stolen and this interview with Mr. Singleton took place. I drove

down there after breakfast, and found that the goods were taken out and

placed in a cab that was waiting at the door, my daughter saying that

she wished to take them at once to her dressmaker. I also called in at

Gilliat's, and found that there, as well as at Allerton's, the woman was

veiled when she gave the orders.'

Mr. Levine had listened with close attention to Mr. Singleton, glancing

keenly at times towards Dorothy, who was sitting with her side-face to

him, absorbed in the repetition of the story.

When Mr. Hawtrey ceased speaking, he was silent for a minute, and then

said--

'In the first place, Miss Hawtrey, I have to make an apology to you. You

were right. I see so much of the bad side of human nature that I own

that, until I saw you, I did not entertain a shadow of a doubt that you,

driven by some pressure, had resorted to this desperate expedient of

raising money. The whole story appeared to be consistent only with your

guilt, providing that you were possessed of an extraordinary amount of

self-possession and audacity. I admit and apologise for the mistake, now

that I hear the same thing has been done in two other cases, and that

within an hour or two of the first; it is to me conclusive that your

father's theory is the correct one, and that you were personated by some

clever woman who must bear an extraordinary likeness to you. That a

young lady of your age, driven into a corner, should commit a barefaced

robbery is a matter that my experience has taught me to believe to be

very possible, but that she should a few minutes afterwards proceed to

raise money from a friend, and still more, to commit the petty crime of

swindling a tradesman of four silk dresses, or rather the materials, of

the value perhaps of thirty or forty pounds, seems to me incredible. For

once I have been entirely at fault.'

'Now as to paying this money for the jewels, Mr. Levine,' Mr. Hawtrey

said, 'do you still advise it?'

'I must think that over. It is an extremely difficult matter on which to

give an opinion, and I shall be glad, in the first place, to have Mr.

Danvers' opinion about it. Perhaps he will be good enough to come and

see you after we have talked it over; but I will not give a final

opinion until I have turned it over in my mind for a day or two. Perhaps

I may ask you to come and see me again.'

Danvers went out to the carriage with them. 'I congratulate you most

heartily, Miss Hawtrey,' he said. 'There is no doubt that this will

immensely strengthen your position. It has had, at any rate, a great

effect on the mind of Levine. It is not often he has to own that his

first impressions are entirely erroneous. I will come round this evening

if you will be at home.'

'We will be at home, Danvers,' Mr. Hawtrey said, 'and I particularly

want to see you about another matter. Come to dinner. Half-past seven.

Can you come too, Singleton?' he went on as the carriage drove off. 'You

are in the thick of it now, and are indeed one of the parties

interested, for of course I shall see that you are not a loser by your

intended kindness to Dorothy.'

'If I hear any nonsense of that sort,' Mr. Singleton said, hotly, 'I

will get out of the carriage at once and have nothing more to do with

the affair. Dorothy is my god-daughter, and if I choose to give her one

thousand or ten I have a perfect right to do so. So let us hear no more

about it.'

Mr. Hawtrey shook his old friend warmly by the hand. 'You always were an

obstinate fellow,' he said 'and I suppose I must let you have your own

way. Dorothy, I think I will get out at the top of St. James's Street,

and if Ned Hampton is not in leave my card with a line, asking him to

join us at dinner. He has worked most nobly for us, Singleton, as I told

you last night, and ought certainly to be told of this new development.

It will make us an odd number, for my cousin, Mary Daintree, has--I was

going to remark I am glad to say, but I suppose I oughtn't--not yet

recovered from the shock given her by Dorothy breaking off her

engagement, and is keeping to her bed. However, it does not matter about

there being an odd number.'

'Of course you can ask Captain Hampton if you like, father,' Dorothy

said, coldly, 'but at any rate for my part I would rather that he did

not meddle any more in my affairs.'

'Hulloa! hulloa!' Mr. Singleton exclaimed, 'what is in the wind now,

Dorothy? I thought you and Ned Hampton were sworn friends, and next to

yourself, Ned has always stood very high in my regard. A nicer lad than

he was I have not come across; I only wish he was master of the old

place down there instead of his brother, who is by no means a popular

character in the county; although, perhaps, that is his wife's fault

rather than his own. What have you been quarrelling with him about? I

should have thought that for a young fellow, after being six years from

England, to give up everything for a month, and spend it in your

service, was in itself a strong claim to your regard.'

'There has been no quarrel between Captain Hampton and myself,' Dorothy

said, as coldly as before. 'I do not say that it was not kind of him to

take the pains he did about my affairs; but he acknowledged that he had

doubted me, and after that I do not wish him to trouble himself any

further in the matter.'

'What nonsense, Dorothy,' her father said, warmly. 'Who could have

helped doubting you under the circumstances? Why, without half the

excuse, even I was inclined to doubt you for a moment. Levine doubted

you; Danvers, though he has not said as much, no doubt took the same

view; and even Singleton here, when he gave you, as he believed, that

money, thought that you had got into some horrible scrape. Singleton

could not disbelieve the evidence of his eyes, and you are not angry

with him for it. Why should you be so with Hampton, who also believed

the evidence of his eyes?'

'What was that, if I may ask?' Mr. Singleton said. 'I have heard nothing

about that, and I am quite sure that Ned Hampton would not have doubted

Dorothy without what he believed to be very strong evidence.'

'Well, Singleton, I will tell you, though I should not tell either

Levine or Danvers, for it is undoubtedly the strongest piece of evidence

against Dorothy. He went up to Islington late in the afternoon of the

day when all this took place, to see if he could light upon that

scoundrel Truscott, and he saw Truscott in close confabulation in a

quiet street with the woman who came to your chambers, and whom he, like

you, of course, took to be Dorothy. At that time neither he nor any one

else knew of the jewel robbery, but naturally it struck him, as, of

course, it would have struck every one, that Dorothy had got into some

scrape, and that she had met that man to endeavour to persuade or bribe

him to give up the letters, or, at any rate, to move, and so escape from

the search we were making for him. Ned went out of town at once, and

came back just about the time we heard of the jewel robbery. By that

time he had, on thinking it over, concluded that his first idea was

altogether erroneous, and when, at my wits' end, I told him of the jewel

affair, he said at once it was absolutely impossible that Dorothy could

have done such a thing, and that indeed it seemed to him a confirmation

of the theory he had formed that some adventuress having a singular

likeness to Dorothy was personating her. The idea had never occurred to

me, and I was delighted on finding a possible explanation of what seemed

to me a blank and absolute mystery. I consider that Dorothy is even more

indebted to him for that suggestion than for the pains he took in trying

to discover Truscott.'

'I certainly think you are wrong, Dorothy,' Mr. Singleton said, gravely,

seeing that the girl listened with cold indifference to her father's

explanation. 'He did no more than I did, namely, believe the evidence of

his eyes, and on that evidence both of us were forced to believe that

you had got into a scrape of some sort, and were under the thumb of a

rascal.'

'I cannot argue about it, Mr. Singleton. I only know that I believed

Captain Hampton would trust me implicitly, as I should have trusted him,

and it is a great disappointment to me to find that I was mistaken. I do

not defend myself; I admit that it may be silly and wrong on my part. I

only say that I am disappointed in Captain Hampton, and that I would

much rather he did not interfere in any way in my affairs.'

Mr. Hawtrey shrugged his shoulders. Mr. Singleton lifted his eyebrows

slightly and then glanced with a furtive smile, which it was well that

Dorothy did not detect, at her father, who looked somewhat surprised at

this unexpected demonstration.

'At any rate, Dorothy,' the latter said, 'I must ask him to dinner;

there will be no occasion for him to interfere farther in the matter, so

far as I can see, and I should think that after your manner to him he

will not be inclined to do so; still, it is impossible, after the pains

he has taken in the matter, not to acquaint him with what has occurred

here. We are at the top of St. James's Street,' and he pulled the check

string. 'I suppose you will get out here too, Singleton?'

'Certainly, it is my lunch time; I will walk round with you to Ned

Hampton's, and you had better lunch with me at the Travellers'. I will

take him round there too, if we find him in.'

'Tell James we shall be five to dinner, Dorothy, as soon as you get

back.'

As the carriage drove away Mr. Singleton indulged in a quiet laugh.

'What is it, Singleton? I could not make out that glance you gave me in

the carriage. I own I see nothing at all laughable in it; to my mind

this fancy of Dorothy's is at once utterly unreasonable and confoundedly

annoying, and is, I may say, altogether unlike her.'

'My dear Hawtrey, I would ask you a question. Has it ever entered your

mind that you would like Ned Hampton as a son-in-law?'

'As a son-in law!' Mr. Hawtrey repeated in astonishment. 'What do you

mean, Singleton? No such idea ever occurred to me--how should it? There

was a boy and girl friendship of a certain kind between them before he

went away, but at that time Dorothy was a mere child of twelve years

old, and of course no idea about her future marriage to him or any one

else had entered my mind. When he came home the other day she was on the

verge of being engaged to Halliburn, and was so engaged a week later. So

again the idea could not have occurred to me. He is the son of an old

friend and was constantly in and out of our house as a boy, and I have a

very great regard and liking for him, but I certainly should not regard

him as a very eligible match for Dorothy.'

'I should think, Hawtrey, you have had enough of eligible marriages,'

Mr. Singleton said, sarcastically, 'and I should think Dorothy has, too.

Next time I hope her heart will have something to say in the matter. I

don't see why Ned Hampton should not be eligible. He is a younger son

'tis true, and has, I believe, only about four hundred a year in

addition to his pay. Dorothy has, I know, some twenty thousand pounds

from her mother's settlements, and some land that brings in about two

hundred more, and she will some day have what you can leave her besides,

which, as you have told me, would be something like fifteen thousand

more; so with her money and his, it would come some day to not very far

short of two thousand a year. As I told you, I have put her down in my

will for five thousand. I should have put her down for more had I

thought she wanted it, but as it seemed likely that she would make a

good match, I did not think it would be of any use to leave her more. I

have put him down for a like sum, and certainly if those two were to

come together, I should considerably increase it. I have no children of

my own. My relations, as far as I know of them, are well-to-do people,

and therefore I am perfectly free to do what I like with my money and

estate. That being so, I think you may dismiss from your mind any idea

that Dorothy is likely to come to poverty if she marries Ned Hampton.'

'Well, old friend, that certainly alters the case. However, as you see,

there is no probability whatever of the young people taking that view of

the case. Ned Hampton has always been like an elder brother or, if you

like, a favourite cousin of Dorothy's, and since he came home I have

never seen the slightest change in his manner towards her. As to her,

you have just heard what she has said.'

'I know nothing of his ideas on the subject, Hawtrey, but as Dorothy was

and is, so far as he knows, engaged to the Earl of Halliburn, Ned,

whatever he might think, would scarcely embark in a flirtation with her.

As to Dorothy, as you say, she showed pretty clearly the state of her

mind just now.'

'Yes, she has evidently taken a strong prejudice against him, Singleton.

It is a pity, too, for I like him exceedingly, and I don't know any one

to whom personally I would more willingly entrust Dorothy's happiness.'

'I don't know,' Mr. Singleton remarked meditatively, 'why fathers should

be so much more blind about their daughters than other people are. You

don't suppose that if Dorothy had been quite indifferent as to Ned

Hampton's opinion of her she would have been so exceedingly sore at his

having doubted her. I do not say she loves him. I do not even suppose

that she has the remotest idea of such a thing. I only say that she

evidently attaches a very great weight to his good opinion, and is

proportionately grieved at what she considers his want of confidence in

herself.

'She makes light of having broken off her engagement to Halliburn, but

we know she must feel it a great deal more than she pretends to do. No

girl in her position in society would break off such a match without

feeling sore about it--however convinced she might be that it was the

best thing to do--and in that temper the defection, as she considers it,

of a faithful ally would naturally be keenly felt. Of course, there is

nothing to do but to let the matter rest; only, please do not attempt to

argue the point with her, but let her have her own way, without comment.

She is far more likely to come round in time if left alone than if

constantly put upon the defence. But, bless me! here we are at Waterloo

Place, and have forgotten altogether the business in hand, which is to

call at Ned Hampton's lodgings. Well, they are about half-way along

Jermyn Street, so that we may as well turn up here. Now--to continue our

conversation for another minute or two--I should say we had best put all

this out of our minds for the present, and leave matters to right

themselves. There are more urgent things to think of, for I am afraid,

Hawtrey, there is a good deal of trouble ahead for her and for you,

whatever course you may decide to take about Gilliat's matter. We who

know and love Dorothy may be absolutely certain of her innocence in

these matters, but you must remember that unless we can produce the

woman, it will be uphill work indeed to get the world to see matters in

the same light, if it comes to a trial and all the facts come out. On

the other hand, if you compromise, it is morally certain these things

will go on. You will be absolutely driven to fight one of these claims,

and every claim you pay you will make it harder to resist the next, so

that either way there is trouble, I am afraid great trouble, ahead, and

the only way out of it that I can see is to find this man and woman, who

may for aught I know at the present moment be on the other side of the

Atlantic. There does not seem to be a shadow of a clue which we can

follow up, and a wild-goose chase is a joke to it.'

'I agree with you entirely, Singleton. Of course, in an affair like this

money is nothing, and I shall employ the best detectives I can get.

Levine will be able to tell me of good men. If I find Ned Hampton in I

will tell him the whole story at once, which will save explanations this

evening.'

'You mean you will tell him while we are at lunch, Hawtrey, for it is

past two o'clock now, and at my age one cannot afford to neglect the

inner man in this way.'

They met Captain Hampton half way along the street.

'We were just coming for you, Ned,' Mr. Hawtrey said. 'Singleton wants

you to come and lunch with him. He and I want to have a talk with you.'

'I have only just finished my lunch, but I am perfectly ready for the

talk, Mr. Hawtrey.'

'Where were you going now?'

'I think I was principally going to smoke a cigar. I have been in all

the morning, and on a day like this one gets restless after a time.'

'Then you shall take a turn for twenty minutes, Ned. There is nothing

more unpleasant than looking on at people eating, unless it is eating

with people looking on; besides, we could not begin our talk now. What

do you say, Hawtrey? Shall we join him, say, at the foot of the Duke of

York's steps, turn in to St. James's Park and sit down, if we can find a

bench free of nursemaids? as I daresay we shall, as they won't come out

till later. At any rate, we don't want to be overheard, and we can never

make sure of that in a club smoking-room.'

'That will suit me very well, Mr. Singleton, but don't hurry over your

lunch; you will see me somewhere about when you are coming down the

steps. I have just time to stroll down the Mall and back by Birdcage

Walk.'

'Well, we will say in half-an-hour from the time you leave us.'

'This is another proof, Mr. Hawtrey, that our suspicion that Truscott is

at the bottom of it all is well founded,' Captain Hampton said, when he

had heard the story. 'It must have been somebody who was accurately

acquainted with your affairs; some one who knew that Mr. Singleton was

an intimate friend; so intimate that your daughter would be likely to go

to him were she in any trouble, and that he would be likely to assist

her.'

'It is certainly another link in the chain,' Mr. Hawtrey agreed.

'I would give a thousand pounds if we could lay our hands on the

fellow,' Mr. Singleton exclaimed fiercely.

'But if we could find him, Singleton, we could not touch him; you and I,

Ned, may be morally certain that he is at the bottom of all this, but we

have not the remotest shadow of evidence on which a magistrate would

grant a warrant for his arrest. If we found him, he would snap his

fingers in our face.'

'You forget, Mr. Hawtrey,' said Ned, 'if we find him we are pretty sure

of being able to find this woman. I do not say we are certain to find

her, because we know nothing of their relations to each other; perhaps

they are only united to carry out this piece of swindling. Truscott is

shrewd enough to see that it would be better for them to part; perhaps

they kept together until they went over to Hamburg, and sold the

diamonds; then she might go over to Paris, and he to America, or they

may have gone to any other two widely separated places in the world. If

they have kept together, and are still in England, I should say they are

most likely to be at present in some quiet and respectable lodgings at

some large watering-place, where they pass as father and daughter. I

quite agree with you in what you say that the fact of these two fresh

robberies altogether alters the case, and that you can never calculate

upon being free of annoyance, still I should say that you are safe for

some little time. They ought to be satisfied with what they have got,

and will naturally wait to see whether there is any stir made, and what

comes of it, before repeating the same game. Have you seen Levine

again?'

'Yes, we were there an hour and a half ago, and I am glad to say these

last occurrences have completely changed his opinion of the case. We

left him going into the matter with Danvers, who is coming to dine with

us this evening, and will tell us what they think as to fighting

Gilliat.'

'What does Halliburn think of it?' Captain Hampton asked, suddenly.

'After all, everything will depend, I should think, upon his opinion.'

'On that point, fortunately, we have not got to consult him,

Ned--Dorothy has definitely broken off the engagement. As soon as we

heard from Gilliat of the robbery, she declared that it was positively

impossible that the matter should go on, and I quite agreed with her

decision.'

Captain Hampton made no remark for a minute or two.

Mr. Hawtrey presently went on. 'I want you to come round to dinner too,

Ned. There will only be Singleton and Danvers, and it will be a sort of

family council.'

'Thank you, Mr. Hawtrey,' Captain Hampton replied, after a pause, 'I

think I would rather not come. I have been unfortunate enough to offend

Miss Hawtrey deeply already, and I don't think that my presence at such

a council would be in any way agreeable to her, and that being so, I

need hardly say that it would not be pleasant to me.'

'Tut, tut, lad, that is all nonsense. For a moment I was inclined to

doubt her myself; those fellows' story seemed so terribly

straight-forward that I was completely taken aback. Singleton let

himself be led to believe that she had got into some terrible scrape,

and how could you disbelieve your eyes more than he could? She will soon

get over her little touchiness.'

'I rather doubt it, Mr. Hawtrey. I think it natural that she should feel

very much hurt. Just at present my taking any part in the affair would,

I feel sure, be very distasteful to her. But when you say to me,

"Dorothy has quite got over her indignation and wants you to come and

have a chat with her," I shall be delighted to come. In the meantime I

would rather give no opinion whatever as to the matter, but I shall,

nevertheless, work quietly in my own way and do my best to discover some

clue as to the movements of this man. I have the great advantage of

knowing him by sight, which no detective would do. I am certain I am not

likely to make any mistake as to the woman. Please don't mention to

Dorothy that I am taking any further part in the affair. Levine will, I

should think, advise you to put the matter into the hands of detectives,

and I shall be glad to know from time to time what their opinion is and

whether they have gained any clue as to their whereabouts. I would

suggest that you should get from Allerton two or three small pieces of

each of the silks that were taken; should there be anything at all

peculiar in colour or pattern, it might be an aid to the detectives.'

'You are right there, Ned,' Mr. Singleton said; 'an adventuress of that

kind, having got hold of some handsome silks, would not be able to

forego the pleasure of having them made up and showing off in them. Do

you mean to pay Allerton, Hawtrey?'

'I gave him a cheque at once. I told him that this was one of several

robberies that had been committed by some woman personating my daughter,

but that it would be so unpleasant to go into the matter, and so

difficult to find the thief, that I would rather pay the money at once.

In addition to the patterns of the dresses I will get him to have some

sketches made of the mantles. They will probably have some others like

them, but if not they are sure to know the exact particulars of them.

There may be some slight peculiarity about the fashion of the things

that would help a detective.'

'I think you would do even better than that,' Captain Hampton said, 'if

you got a dozen of your daughter's daguerreotypes; they would assist

detectives much more than anything else in making inquiries; they would

only have to show them to a waiter in any hotel where this woman

stopped, and they could hardly fail to be recognised at once, for she

would certainly attract attention wherever she went. Dorothy gave me one

a few days after I came back, but as I should be very sorry to have that

knocked about I should be glad if you would let me have another.'

'That is an excellent idea, Ned. I will order a couple of dozen of her

photos this afternoon from Watson, who took the last she had done. Well,

I am sorry you won't come and dine with us; though I don't know but that

it is better for you to leave her to herself for a short time. I admit

that she has not quite got over it yet, but I expect that she will come

round before long. Which way are you going?'

'I think I shall sit where I am for a bit, Mr. Hawtrey; it is very

pleasant here in the shade, and I want to think over all that you have

been saying. I must try and see what I had best do next.'

He got up, however, half an hour later with an impatient exclamation.

'What is the use of my wasting my time here? I was three weeks looking

for the fellow before, and Slippen found him a few hours after taking

the matter in hand. I will take his advice anyhow. He is more likely to

have an idea as to what a fellow like this would do under the

circumstances than I could have.'

'I have been doing nothing more about that case, Captain Hampton,' the

detective said, when the caller was shown in by a boy who reminded him

strongly of Jacob; 'I wrote to Mr. Hawtrey that the man had altogether

disappeared, but that I would have the racecourses watched, and that if

he turned up at any of them we would let him know. That is three weeks

ago, and he certainly has not shown up at any racecourse, and my men

have ascertained beyond much doubt, that none of his usual pals have

seen or heard anything of him from the day he left his quarters at

Islington. I am glad you have come, as I was going to write to Mr.

Hawtrey, to ask if he considered it worth while keeping up the search.

Certainly it seems to me that if a man like that, who has been a

constant attendant at the races for the last twenty years, and makes his

living out of them, doesn't go near them for three weeks, it must be

because he has either gone away or is very ill, or has taken to some new

life altogether.'

'That is just the opinion that I have formed, Mr. Slippen, and I wanted

to ask your opinion about it. We have a very strong idea that there is a

woman acting in concert with him, and between them they have victimised

a friend of Mr. Hawtrey's out of a considerable sum of money. We may

take it then for granted that they have means sufficient to live on for

some little time, or to take them wherever they may want to go. I fancy

myself that they must have left London; a man like that could hardly

keep away from racecourses altogether; therefore I agree with you, that

nothing but severe illness or absence can be the cause of his staying

away from racecourses and from all his own intimates for three weeks.'

'That is just how I reasoned it, Captain Hampton; and now that you tell

me that he has got hold of some money, I have not the least doubt that

he has sloped.'

'Well, from your experience in such matters, Mr. Slippen, where do you

think that a man like that would be likely to go?'

'There is no saying at all. He might go down to some quiet place in the

country, but Lor' bless you, a man like that could never stand three

weeks of it. It is very likely that if he is in funds and has got a

clever woman with him they may have got themselves up and be staying at

some swell hotel at one of the seaside places, or at Harrogate or

Buxton, and be carrying on some little swindle there. Then again, after

this job you say they have managed, they may think it best to make

themselves scarce altogether, and may be at some foreign watering-place.

A clever sharp can always make his living at those sort of places,

especially with a woman to help him. I suppose she is young and pretty?'

Captain Hampton nodded.

'Bound to be,' the detective went on. 'Well, a sharp fellow with a girl

like that, if she is shrewd and clever, can just turn over money at

places of that kind. They are full of young fools, most of whom have got

money in their pockets. Well then, again, they may have gone across the

water somewhere--more likely the States than anywhere else; it is a big

place for hiding in, and when a fellow has done a bit of clever sharping

here and knows that he is wanted, he somehow always makes for the

States, just as naturally as a duck takes to water.

'Have you agents who would be of any use at these places?'

'No, I will acknowledge frankly that I have not, Captain Hampton. It

would be no use taking Mr. Hawtrey's money for a job of that sort; it is

too big for me. If there was any one place to which you could track them

I could send out a man there well enough. But I could not work either

the Continent or the States. If you have got proof of a bad piece of

swindling against this man, your best plan will be to go to Scotland

Yard and get them to put a man at your service. The foreign police would

not move a finger if I were to write to them, but they would be willing

enough to move if Scotland Yard had the thing in hand.'

'Mr. Hawtrey has put himself in Charles Levine's hands, and in these

matters he will have to act as he suggests; but I am taking the matter

up on my own account. I have spent a good deal of time over it, and

don't like to be beaten, and if you could have undertaken it, and it

would have been at all within my means, I would have arranged with you.

As it is, I shall come to you again for advice and assistance if I

require them. I think you had better send in your account to Mr. Hawtrey

for the work done so far, with a letter asking for instructions. He may

like to have the racecourses watched for a bit longer. If you see him do

not mention this talk with me. By the way, I found that boy you had, on

my door-step a few days ago. He told me he had left you, and as he

seemed a sharp little fellow I have taken him on to run errands and that

sort of thing.'

'He is not a bad boy, as that sort of boy goes. They are all young

scamps, but he took it into his head to be cheeky, and I had to kick him

out. I am glad to hear he has not gone on the streets again. You will

have to look pretty sharp after him, but you may find him useful, if, as

you say, you are going to try to unearth this fellow we have been in

search of.'