art would be touched, and he would refund them a portion, at
least, of what he took from them, and what is legally theirs."

"I am afraid it is very doubtful whether he will," I said, "even in the
event of his being found. Gentlemen of his description are not
conspicuous for their pity, nor, as a rule, will they disgorge unless
considerable pressure of an unpleasant description is brought to bear
upon them."

"Then that pressure must be brought to bear," she said, "and if I may
say so, you are the only one who can do it. That is why I have called
upon you this morning. I have come to plead with you, to implore you, if
necessary, to take the matter up. I am not very rich, but I would
willingly give all I have in the world to help them."

"In that case you are one niece in a thousand, Miss Kitwater," I said,
with a smile. "Your uncle is indeed fortunate in having such a
champion."

She looked at me as if she were not quite certain whether I was joking
or not.

"You will do this for them?"

What was I to say? What could I say? I had well nigh decided to have
nothing to do with the matter, yet here I was, beginning to think it was
hard upon me to have to disappoint her. My profession is not one
calculated to render a man's heart over tender, but I must confess that
in this case I was by no means as adamant as was usual with me. As I
have said, she was an unusually pretty girl, and had she not been kind
enough to express her belief in my powers! After all, detectives, like
other people, are only human.

"Your uncle and his companion have promised to call upon me this
afternoon," I said, "and when they do so, I think I may promise you that
I will endeavour to come to some arrangement with them."

"I thank you," she said; "for I think that means that you will try to
help them. If you do, I feel confident that you will succeed. I hope
you will forgive me for having called upon you as I have done, but, when
I saw how disappointed they were after their interview with you
yesterday, I made up my mind that I would endeavour to see you and to
interest you on their behalf before they came again."

"You have certainly done so," I answered, as she rose to go. "If I take
the case up, and believe me I am not at all sure that I shall not do so,
they will owe it to your intercession."

"Oh, no, I did not mean that exactly," she replied, blushing prettily.
"I should like to feel that you did it for the reason that you believe
i