to my office and shut myself in."

Bellamy pointed to the glasses silently. The waiter came forward
and refilled them.

"Bellamy," Laverick continued, "your career and mine lie far apart,
and yet, at their backbone, as there is at the backbone of every
man's life, there must be something of the same sort of ambition.
My grandfather lived and died a member of the Stock Exchange, honored
and well thought of. My father followed in his footsteps. I, too,
was there. Without becoming wealthy, the name I bear has become
known and respected. Failure, whatever one may say, means a broken
life and a broken honor. I sat in my office and I knew that the use
of those notes for a few days might save me from disgrace, might
keep the name, which my father and grandfather had guarded so
jealously, free from shame. I would have paid any price for the use
of them. I would have paid with my life, if that had been possible.
Think of the risk I ran--the danger I am now in. I deposited those
notes on the morrow as security at my bank, and I met all my
engagements. The crisis is over! Those notes are in a safe deposit
vault in Chancery Lane! I only wish to Heaven that I could find
the owner!"

"And the document?" Bellamy asked. "The document?"

"It is in the hotel safe," Laverick answered.

Bellamy drew a long sigh of relief. Then he emptied his tumbler
and lit a cigarette.

"Laverick," he declared, "I believe you."

"Thank God!" Laverick muttered.

"I am no crime investigator," Bellamy went on thoughtfully. "As to
who killed Von Behrling, or why, I cannot now form the slightest
idea. That twenty thousand pounds, Laverick, is Secret Service
money, paid by me to Von Behrling only half-an-hour before he was
murdered, in a small restaurant there, for what I supposed to be
the document. He deceived me by making up a false packet. The real
one he kept. He deserved to die, and I am glad he is dead."

Laverick's face was suddenly hopeful.

"Then you can take these notes!" he exclaimed.

Bellamy nodded.

"In a few days," he said, "I shall take you with me to a friend of
mine--a Cabinet Minister. You shall tell him the story exactly as
you've told it to me, and restore the money."

Laverick laughed like a child.

"Don't think I'm mad," he apologized, "but I am not a person like
you, Bellamy,--used to adventures and this sort of wild happenings.
I'm a steady-going, matter-of-fact Englishman, and this thing has
be