w well
by what strange accidents the deceit of an assumed identity is often
penetrated. Some old comrade or companion of the lost heir might
suddenly appear with keen questions as to trifles which could cut his
flimsy web to shreds, as easily as the sword of Saladin divided the
floating silk. He could not afford to ignore the most insignificant
circumstances. With consummate skill, piece by piece he built up the
story which was to deceive the poor mother, and to make him possessor of
one of the largest private fortunes in England.

This was the tale he hit upon. He had been saved from the burning
Hydaspes by a vessel bound for Rio. Ignorant of the death of Sir
Richard, and prompted by the pride which was known to be a leading
feature of his character, he had determined not to return until fortune
should have bestowed upon him wealth at least equal to the inheritance
from which he had been ousted. In Spanish America he had striven to
accumulate that wealth in vain. As vequero, traveller, speculator,
sailor, he had toiled for fourteen years, and had failed. Worn out and
penitent, he had returned home to find a corner of English earth in
which to lay his weary bones. The tale was plausible enough, and in the
telling of it he was armed at all points. There was little fear that
the navigator of the captured Osprey, the man who had lived in Chile and
"cut out" cattle on the Carrum Plains, would prove lacking in knowledge
of riding, seamanship, or Spanish customs. Moreover, he had determined
upon a course of action which showed his knowledge of human nature.

The will under which Richard Devine inherited was dated in 1807, and had
been made when the testator was in the first hopeful glow of paternity.
By its terms Lady Devine was to receive a life interest of three
thousand a year in her husband's property--which was placed in the
hands of two trustees--until her eldest son died or attained the age
of twenty-five years. When either of these events should occur, the
property was to be realized, Lady Devine receiving a sum of a hundred
thousand pounds, which, invested in Consols for her benefit, would,
according to Sir Richard's prudent calculation exactly compensate for
her loss of interest, the remainder going absolutely to the son, if
living, to his children or next of kin if dead. The trustees appointed
were Lady Devine's father, Colonel Wotton Wade, and Mr. Silas Quaid,
of the firm of Purkiss and Quaid Thavies Inn, Sir Ric