mysterious letter asking her if she happened to have any discarded
jewelry that she wished to dispose of secretly. If she had, an
appointment could be made at Limehouse Church. It was, she thought, an
opportunity. So she took the jewels to sell to them. But to her
amazement and horror she had found herself in the hands of the
revengeful Chinaman who had a, possibly just, grievance against her
father.

* * * * *

Rayne, taking the magnificent jewels and running them through his
hands, said:

"The Chink is a friend of ours, and we've had our eye upon these
stones for a very long time, but rather than the young fellow and the
girl shall be ruined I am sending them back to Mrs. Bainbridge's
anonymously by to-night's post. Sir Polworth Urquhart will think they
have come from Tai-K'an. See, Hargreave? I've typed out a letter. Just
pack them up and address them to her. I can't bear to take them now I
know the truth--poor girl!"

And he handed the gems over to me, together with a small wooden box.

That evening I registered the box from the post office at Darlington,
and three days later Charles Otley, who had managed to clear himself
of all suspicion, received an anonymous gift of four thousand five
hundred pounds which had been placed to his credit at the bank.

And none of the actors in that strange drama suspect the hand of the
clever, unscrupulous, but sometimes generous, Squire of Overstow.

CHAPTER XV

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

"Mr. Hargreave, father is sending you upon a very strange mission,"
Lola told me in confidence one dull morning, after we had had
breakfast at the Midland Hotel, in Manchester, where we three were
staying about a fortnight after Rayne's generosity in returning the
famous jewels of the dead Sultan.

"What kind of mission?" I inquired with curiosity, as we sat together
in the lounge prior to going out to idle at the shop windows.

"I don't know its object at all," was her reply. "But from what I've
gathered it is something most important. I--I do hope you will take
care of yourself--won't you?" she asked appealingly.

"Why, of course," I laughed. "I generally manage to take care of
myself. I'd do better, however, if--well, if I were not associated
with Duperre and the rest," I added bitterly.

The pretty girl was silent for a few moments. Then she said:

"Of course you won't breathe a word of what I've said, will you?"

"Certainly not, Lola," wa