anguage which Nora understood;--
many words could not have expressed so much; no words could have
expressed more.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

MR. JONES IS OUTWITTED, AND NORA IS LEFT DESOLATE.

When Morley Jones found himself suddenly deserted by his ally Billy
Towler, he retired to the privacy of a box in a low public-house in
Thames Street, and there, under the stimulus of a stiff glass of grog,
consulted with himself as to the best mode of procedure under the trying
circumstances in which he found himself placed. He thought it probable,
after half an hour of severe meditation, that Billy would return to the
Grotto, but that, for his own sake, he would give a false account of his
absence, and say nothing about the loss of the Skylark. Feeling
somewhat relieved in mind by his conclusions on this head, he drank off
his grog, called for another glass, and then set himself to the
consideration of how far the disappearance of the boy would interfere
with his obtaining payment of the various sums due by the Insurance
Offices. This point was either more knotty and difficult to unravel
than the previous one, or the grog began to render his intellect less
capable of grappling with it. At all events it cost him an hour to
determine his course of action, and required another glass of grog to
enable him to put the whole matter fairly before his mental vision in
one comprehensive view. This, however, accomplished, he called for a
fourth glass of grog "for luck," and reeled out of the house to carry
out his deep-laid plans.

His first act was to proceed to Greenwich, where a branch of his
fish-curing business existed, or was supposed to exist. Here he met a
friend who offered to treat him. Unfortunately for the success of his
schemes he accepted this offer, and, in the course of a debauch,
revealed so much of his private affairs that the friend, after seeing
him safely to his lodging, and bidding him an affectionate farewell,
went up to London by the first boat on the following morning, and
presented himself to the managers of various Insurance Companies, to
whom he made revelations which were variously received by these
gentlemen; some of them opening their eyes in amazement, while others
opened their mouths in amusement, and gave him to understand that he was
very much in the position of a man who should carry coals to Newcastle--
they being then in possession of all the information given, and a great
deal more besides.