nd how did you escape?" asked Katherine, with eager interest.

"He--this Tom Dunford--_did_ go to the next inn and told of the attack;
he even guided some men to the spot, and left _them_ to bury me, because
he was obliged to hurry on to Sydney; but I believe he returned, before
going to the inn, and robbed me. Anyhow I was not killed by the bullet,
but stunned by the fall. Some of the fellows who came with Tom fancied I
did not seem quite dead. Finally I recovered, and instead of digging for
gold myself, got others to dig for me. I set up an inn and a store, with
the help of an American whose daughter I married, and now I am rich
enough to be a formidable foe. I have a little girl, and when my wife
died I determined to realize everything, to come to England, and have
the child brought up as an English lady. On the voyage home I fell in
with a man--a fellow of the rolling-stone order--to whom I used to talk
now and again. He turned out to be the brother of one of your clerks,
and from him I heard that my father had died intestate, that my cousin
had taken possession of everything, and that I was looked upon as dead.
Did you never attempt to prove the truth of Tom Dunford's story?"

"We did. I communicated with the police of Sydney, and they found that
there had been a fight between bush-rangers and diggers returning from
Woollamaroo at the time and place specified; moreover, that one of the
diggers was killed, while the other escaped, but further nothing was
known. The man who kept the inn mentioned by Dunford had made money and
moved off, so the track was broken. Then all these years you made no
sign. Did you not see the advertisements I put in an Australian paper?"

"No; I was far away from any town, and rarely saw any but the American
papers which came to my master. Well, here I am, determined to have
every inch of my rights, let who will stand in my way; and
_you_"--looking fiercely into Newton's eyes--"shall be my first
witness."

"I cannot deny that I recognize you," said Newton, reluctantly.

Liddell laughed scornfully. "And you?" turning to Katherine.

"I have no doubt you are my cousin George."

"Right! As to that fellow Tom--he would never have hurt me, but I am
sure he robbed me, especially if he thought I was dead. His game was to
hold himself harmless whether I lived or died, only he ought not to have
committed himself to seeing me buried. I found him out in Liverpool, and
gave him a fright, for he re