ive or dead; she seemed to have vanished
completely. She was last seen in a Sydney den with a Chinaman whom
afterwards she appears to have left. Since then, nothing whatever was
known of her. Notices offering large rewards for her discovery were
inserted in all the newspapers, Australian and New Zealand; but nothing
came of them. As she herself was unable to read there seemed little
chance of her knowing of them; and, if, as Calton surmised she had
changed her name, no one would be likely to tell her of them. There was
only the bare chance that she might hear of them casually, or that she
might turn up of her own accord. If she returned to Melbourne she would
certainly go to her grandmother's. She had no motive for not doing so.
So Kilsip kept a sharp watch on the house, much to Mrs. Rawlins'
disgust, for, with true English pride, she objected to this system of
espionage.

"Cuss 'im," she croaked over her evening drink, to an old crone, as
withered and evil-looking as herself, "why can't 'e stop in 'is own
bloomin' 'ouse, an' leave mine alone--a-comin' round 'ere a-pokin' and
pryin' and a-perwenting people from earnin' their livin' an' a-gittin'
drunk when they ain't well."

"What do 'e want?" asked her friend, rubbing her weak old knees.

"Wants?--'e wants 'is throat cut," said Mother Guttersnipe, viciously.
"An' s'elp me I'll do for 'im some night w'en 'e's a watchin' round
'ere as if it were Pentridge--'e can git what he can out of that whelp
as ran away, but I knows suthin' 'e don't know, cuss 'im."

She ended with a senile laugh, and her companion having taken advantage
of the long speech to drink some gin out of the broken cup, Mother
Guttersnipe seized the unfortunate old creature by the hair, and in
spite of her feeble cries, banged her head against the wall.

"I'll have the perlice in at yer," whimpered the assaulted one, as she
tottered as quickly away as her rheumatics would allow her. "See if I
don't."

"Get out," retorted Mother Guttersnipe, indifferently, as she filled
herself a fresh cup. "You come a-falutin' round 'ere agin priggin' my
drinks, cuss you, an' I'll cut yer throat an' wring yer wicked old 'ead
orf."

The other gave a howl of dismay at hearing this pleasant proposal, and
tottered out as quickly as possible, leaving Mother Guttersnipe in
undisputed possession of the field.

Meanwhile Calton had seen Brian several times, and used every argument
in his power to get him to tell everythi