thin an hour a ragged tatterdemalion of a man was
selling matches on the opposite side of the road to that on which
Hayle's apartments were situated.

I reached the restaurant at which we were to dine that evening punctual
to the moment, only to find that Hayle had not yet arrived. For a minute
I was tempted to wonder whether he had given me the slip again, but
while the thought was passing through my mind a cab drove up, and the
gentleman himself alighted.

"I must beg your pardon for keeping you waiting," he said
apologetically. "As your host I should have been here first. That would
have been the case had I not been detained at the last moment by an old
friend. Pray forgive me!"

I consented to do so, and we entered the restaurant together.

I discovered that he had already engaged a table, arranged the _menu_,
and bespoken the wines. We accordingly sat down, and the strangest meal
of which I had ever partaken commenced. Less than a week before, the man
sitting in front of me had endeavoured to bring about my destruction;
now he was my host, and to all outward appearances my friend as well. I
found him a most agreeable companion, a witty conversationalist, and a
born _raconteur_. He seemed to have visited every part of the known
globe; had been a sailor, a revolutionist in South America, a
blackbirder in the Pacific, had seen something of what he called the
"Pig-tail trade" to Borneo, some very queer life in India, that is to
say, in the comparatively unknown native states and had come within an
ace of having been shot by the French during the war in Madagascar.

"In point of fact," he said, "I may say that I have travelled from Dan
to Beersheba, and, until I struck this present vein of good fortune, had
found all barren. Some day, if I can summon up sufficient courage, I
shall fit out an expedition and return to the place whence the stones
came, and get some more, but not just at present. Events have been a
little too exciting there of late to let us consider it a healthy
country. By the way, have you heard from our friend, Kitwater, yet?"

"I have," I answered, "and his reply is by no means satisfactory."

"I understand you to mean that he will not entertain my offer?"

I nodded my head.

"He must have 'all or nothing,' he declares. That is the wording of the
telegram I received."

"Well, he knows his own affairs best. The difference is a large one, and
will materially affect his income. Will you take Cr