ter Quick's coming to the Admiral
Parker, Noah introduced him to this bank: Salter deposited there a sum
of about two thousand pounds, and of that he had only withdrawn about
a hundred. So he, too, at the time of his death, had a large balance;
also, he left with the bankers, for safe keeping, some valuable scrip
and securities, chiefly of Indian railways. Altogether, those bankers
hold a lot of money that belongs to the two brothers, and there are
certain indications that they made their money--previous to coming to
Devonport--in the far East. But the bankers know no more of their
antecedents than the solicitors do. In both instances--banking matters
and legal matters--the two men seem to have confined their words to
strict business, and no more; the only man I have come across who can
give me the faintest idea of anything respecting their past is a
regular frequenter of the Admiral Parker who says that he once
gathered from Salter Quick that he and Noah were natives of
Rotherhithe, or somewhere in that part, and that they were orphans and
the last of their lot."

"Of course, you have been to Rotherhithe--making inquiries?" suggested
Mr. Raven.

"I have, sir," replied Scarterfield. "And I searched various parish
registers there, and found nothing that helped me. If the two brothers
did live at Rotherhithe, they must have been taken there as children
and born elsewhere--they weren't born in Rotherhithe parish. Nor could
I come across anybody at all who knew anything of them in seafaring
circles thereabouts. I came to the conclusion that whoever those two
men were, and whatever they had been, most of their lives had been
spent away from this country."

"Probably in the far East, as you previously suggested," muttered Mr.
Cazalette.

"Likely!" agreed Scarterfield. "Their money would seem to have been
made there, judging by, at any rate, some of their securities. Well,
there's more ways than one of finding things out, and after I'd
knocked round a good deal of Thames' side, and been in some queer
places, I turned my attention to Lloyds. Now, connected with Lloyds,
are various publications having to do with shipping matters--the
'Weekly Shipping Index,' the 'Confidential Index,' for instance;
moreover, with time and patience, you can find out a great deal at
Lloyds not only about ships, but about men in them. And to cut a long
story short, gentlemen, last week I did at last get a clue about Noah
and Salter Quick which