nd I thought it best to speak to you about it before
talking to my father. You see, though the loss might fall on us,
indirectly, the moral responsibility is yours, since you are the lawyers
in the case."

"But your father is one of the executors, Mr. Barker," said Mr. Screw,
who felt obliged to say something, and wanted to gain time.

"My father--yes," and Barker smiled disagreeably. "Yes, he is one of the
executors. But you yourself are the other, Mr. Screw. And as far as any
intelligence in the matter is concerned, you might be alone." Barker
was willing to flatter the lawyer at the expense of his fond parent.
Screw would be of more use to him than many fathers in this matter. Mr.
Screw relapsed into silence, and sat for some minutes, hooking one leg
behind the other, and thrusting as much of his hands into his pockets as
those receptacles would contain. After a time he changed his position,
heaved a species of sigh that sounded like the sudden collapse of a set
of organ-bellows, and ran his fingers through his thick hair.

Barker thought he was going to speak. But he was mistaken; Mr. Screw was
too much taken aback to speak yet. Then Barker spoke for him.

"Well," said he, caressing his foot and looking at the ceiling, "what
are you going to do about it?"

"I shall do what is proper in such cases. I will stop his drawing any
more money, and investigate the matter. If this is not the real
Claudius, the real Claudius must be somewhere, and can be found."

"Perhaps he is dead," suggested Barker.

"It is about as easy to find a dead man as a live man," said Screw. "It
is a surer thing, on the whole. A dead man can't change his clothes, and
get his beard shaved off, and cavoort around the corner."

"Not generally speaking," said the other, "no well-regulated corpse
would do it, anyhow. Besides, if he is dead, there must have been some
notice of it in the Heidelberg papers. He belonged to the University,
and they always put those things in the local sheet in Germany."

"That's so," said the lawyer. "Do you know anybody in Heidelberg who
would look the matter up, Mr. Barker?"

Mr. Barker did know some one in Heidelberg--the very man, in fact. He
would write immediately, and set the inquiry on foot. Meanwhile there
were other things to be settled. After the first shock the lawyer was
not inclined to let Barker off so easily for having indorsed a man he
suspected of being a humbug. Barker retorted that he had found