d your friend must have forged to cash it.
Give me the eight hundred, here, upon this platform, or I go straight to
Scotland Yard and turn the whole disreputable story inside out."

"Morris," said Michael, laying his hand upon his shoulder, "hear reason.
It wasn't us, it was the other man. We never even searched the body."

"The other man?" repeated Morris.

"Yes, the other man. We palmed Uncle Joseph off upon another man," said
Michael.

"You what? You palmed him off? That's surely a singular expression,"
said Morris.

"Yes, palmed him off for a piano," said Michael with perfect simplicity.
"Remarkably full, rich tone," he added.

Morris carried his hand to his brow and looked at it; it was wet with
sweat. "Fever," said he.

"No, it was a Broadwood grand," said Michael. "Pitman here will tell you
if it was genuine or not."

"Eh? O! O yes, I believe it was a genuine Broadwood; I have played upon
it several times myself," said Pitman. "The three-letter E was broken."

"Don't say anything more about pianos," said Morris, with a strong
shudder; "I'm not the man I used to be! This--this other man--let's come
to him, if I can only manage to follow. Who is he? Where can I get hold
of him?"

"Ah, that's the rub," said Michael. "He's been in possession of the
desired article, let me see--since Wednesday, about four o'clock, and is
now, I should imagine, on his way to the isles of Javan and Gadire."

"Michael," said Morris pleadingly, "I am in a very weak state, and I
beg your consideration for a kinsman. Say it slowly again, and be sure
you are correct. When did he get it?"

Michael repeated his statement.

"Yes, that's the worst thing yet," said Morris, drawing in his breath.

"What is?" asked the lawyer.

"Even the dates are sheer nonsense," said the leather merchant. "The
bill was cashed on Tuesday. There's not a gleam of reason in the whole
transaction."

A young gentleman, who had passed the trio and suddenly started and
turned back, at this moment laid a heavy hand on Michael's shoulder.

"Aha! so this is Mr. Dickson?" said he.

The trump of judgment could scarce have rung with a more dreadful note
in the ears of Pitman and the lawyer. To Morris this erroneous name
seemed a legitimate enough continuation of the nightmare in which he had
so long been wandering. And when Michael, with his brand-new bushy
whiskers, broke from the grasp of the stranger and turned to run, and
the weird little shaven crea