he was saying. "I've bought up your Indian debts
in the ordinary courthe of business, and I can't afford to lose on the
transaction. Here are the papers that you wanted to see. You'll find
they're all ship-shape enough. And you must pardon my remarking that
when you agreed to--er--act for the Maharajah in a certain delicate
matter I suppothe you intended to keep faith with him."

Chermside took the proffered papers, glanced through and returned them.
"Oh, yes; I intended to keep faith right enough," he replied rather
wearily. "And I haven't said that I don't mean to do so, have I?"

"No, you'd hardly be such a juggins as that," Mr. Levison leered,
exasperatingly. "But I've been here a week, Mr. Chermside, and kept my
eyes and ears open. I can find that things from his Highness's point of
view are 'anging fire. What's a poor struggling feller to do? I bought
up your little indiscretions in the Shining East, you see, on the
understanding that his Highness, who sold them to me, would redeem them
at a hundred per cent. advance on what I paid, directly you carried out
his wishes; but that if not I was to put the screw on in the ordinary
courthe of business. It wouldn't be nice for you to be therved with
writs and things--judgment summonses they'd soon blossom into--just when
you're enjoying yourself in a pretty place like this."

Mr. Levison rolled his dark eyes over the picturesque landscape as if he
had no thought but for the beauties of Nature.

Leslie Chermside made no reply, but paced on with downcast gaze.

"You see, I'm a little bit in the know," Levison went on, after a
furtive glance at his tall companion's bronzed face. "Mr. Travers Nugent
came down by the late train last night, and I've had a chat with him
this morning up at that sweet little place of his--'The Hut,' he calls
it. The steamer is lying at Portland, not thirty miles away, only
waiting for you to throw your handkerchief to the girl, which, from what
I've seen, she'll pick up fast enough. And, though expense is no object,
it don't do to keep a crew of fifty toughs in harbour wondering why they
don't start on a cruise that's to end in a pile of dollars for all of
them."

A spasm crossed Chermside's face, and he dug the nails of his right hand
into the palm as though he restrained some emotion with difficulty.
"There was no time limit mentioned in my engagement with the Maharajah,"
he said hoarsely. "Nor did his Highness inform me that he had had m