he son of a murderer, who was also a forger, a
thief, and a card-sharper. Old Glanville told me this evening. It was
then that our engagement was broken off."

"Your mother?" I asked. "Have you seen her?"

Jack nodded.

"Poor little woman!" he groaned. "She has known all along, and her one
aim and object in life has been to keep the awful truth from me. That
was why I was told he died an honourable death during the war. I've
often wondered why the little mother was always so sad, and so weighed
down by trouble. Now I know. Good God, what her life must have been!"

He rose from his chair and paced up and down the room for a minute; then
he stopped and stood in front of me, his face working with emotion.

"But I don't believe it, Jim," he said, and there was a ring in his
voice. "I don't believe it, and neither does the little mother. It's
impossible to reconcile the big, bluff man with the heart of a child,
that I remember as my father, with murder, forgery, or any other crime.
And yet, according to Glanville and the old newspapers he showed me,
Richard Bridges was one of the most unscrupulous ruffians in South
Africa. In my heart of hearts I know he didn't do it, and though on the
face of it there's no doubt, I'm going to try and clear his name. I am
sailing for South Africa on Friday."

"Sailing for South Africa!" I exclaimed. "What about your work?"

"My work can go hang!" replied Jack heatedly. "I want to wipe away the
stain from my father's name, and I mean to do it somehow. That's why
I've run round to see you, old pal, for I want you to come with me.
Knowing Rhodesia as you do, you're just the man to help me. Say you'll
come?" he pleaded.

It seemed quite the forlornest hope I had ever heard of, but Jack's
distress was so acute that I hadn't the heart to refuse.

"All right, Jack," I said, "I'm with you. But don't foster any vain
hopes. Remember, it's twenty years ago. It will be a pretty tough job to
prove anything after all these years."

During the voyage out we had ample time to go through the small amount
of information about the long-forgotten case that Jack had been able to
collect from the family solicitors.

In the year 1893, Richard Bridges, who was a mining engineer of some
standing, had made a trip to Rhodesia with a view to gold and diamond
prospecting. He had been accompanied by a friend, Thomas Symes, who, so
far as we could ascertain, was an ex-naval officer; and the two, after a
short