tter of the
murder in his hands, there can be no open scandal.'

Harry stared, and moodily tugged at his moustache. 'I never thought to
hear you hint that the bishop was guilty,' he grumbled.

'And I,' retorted Graham, 'never thought to hear a man of your sense
make so silly a speech. The bishop is innocent; I'll stake my life on
that. Nevertheless, he has a secret, and if there is a scandal about
this murder, the secret--whatever it is--may become public property.'

'Humph! that is to be avoided certainly. But the secret can be nothing
harmful.'

'If it were not,' replied Graham, drily, 'Pendle would not take such
pains to conceal it. People don't pay two hundred pounds for nothing
harmful, my lad.'

'Do you believe that the money was paid?'

'Yes, on Southberry Heath, shortly before the murder. And what is more,'
added Graham, warmly, 'I believe that the assassin knew that Jentham had
received the money, and shot him to obtain it.'

'If that is so,' argued Harry, 'the assassin would no doubt wish to take
the benefit of his crime and use the money. If he did, the numbers of
the notes being known, they would be traced, whereas--'

'Whereas Baltic, who got the numbers from the bank, has not yet had time
to trace them. Wait, Brace, wait! Time, in this matter, may work
wonders.'

'But, doctor, do you trust Baltic?'

'Yes, my friend, I always trust fanatics in their own particular line of
monomania. Besides, for all his religious craze, Baltic appears to be a
shrewd man; also he is a silent one, so if anyone can carry the matter
through judiciously, he is the person.'

'What about Cargrim?'

'Leave him alone, lad; with sufficient rope he'll surely hang himself.'

'Shouldn't the bishop be warned, doctor?'

'I think not. If we watch Cargrim and trust Baltic we shall be able to
protect Pendle from the consequences of his folly.'

'Folly! What folly?'

'The folly of having a secret. Only women should have secrets, for they
alone know how to keep them.'

'Everyone is of the opposite opinion,' said Brace, with a grin.

'And, as usual, everyone is wrong,' retorted Graham. 'Do you think I
have been a doctor all these years and don't know the sex?--that is, so
far as a man may know them. You take my word for it, Brace, that a woman
knows how to hold her tongue. It is a popular fallacy to suppose that
she doesn't. You try and get a secret out of a woman which she thinks is
worth keeping, and see how you'll fare