d it to be in drafts and
letters of credit and shares, and that he had no ready money--a fact
borne out by the testimony of his shipmates. The night he arrived was
spent in an orgy on board ship, which he did not leave until the early
evening of the next day, although, after his erratic fashion, he had
ordered a room at a hotel. That evening he took ashore a portmanteau,
evidently intending to pass the night at his hotel. He was never seen
again, although some of the sailors declared that they had seen him on
the wharf WITHOUT THE PORTMANTEAU, and they had drunk together at a low
grog shop on the street corner. He had evidently fallen through some
hole in the wharf. As he was seen only with the sailors, who also knew
he had no ready money on his person, there was no suspicion of foul
play.

"For all that, don't you know," continued Sir William, with a forced
laugh, which struck Randolph as not only discordant, but as having an
insolent significance, "it might have been a deuced bad business
for YOU, eh? Last man who was with him, eh? In possession of his
portmanteau, eh? Wearing his clothes, eh? Awfully clever of you to
go straight to the bank with it. 'Pon my word, my legal man wanted to
pounce down on you as 'accessory' until I and Dingwall called him off.
But it's all right now."

Randolph's antagonism to the man increased. "The investigation seems to
have been peculiar," he said dryly, "for, if I remember rightly, at the
coroner's inquest on the body I saw you with, the verdict returned was
of the death of an UNKNOWN man."

"Yes; we hadn't clear proof of identity then," he returned coolly, "but
we had a reexamination of the body before witnesses afterward, and
a verdict according to the facts. That was kept out of the papers
in deference to the feelings of the family and friends. I fancy you
wouldn't have liked to be cross-examined before a stupid jury about what
you were doing with Jack's portmanteau, even if WE were satisfied with
it."

"I should have been glad to testify to the kindness of your brother,
at any risk," returned Randolph stoutly. "You have heard that the
portmanteau was stolen from me, but the amount of money it contained has
been placed in Mr. Dingwall's hands for disposal."

"Its contents were known, and all that's been settled," returned Sir
William, rising. "But," he continued, with his forced laugh, which to
Randolph's fancy masked a certain threatening significance, "I say,
it would hav