t the
horse. At any rate, Copley was fairly satisfied. He had invested several
thousand pounds against the Blenheim colt, which, in his opinion, was
already as good as out of the running altogether.

He came into what he called his library just before dinner and found
Foster awaiting him. Both were in evening dress, both exceedingly shiny
and glossy, and both carried more jewellery than was in accordance with
good taste. The guests were not expected for half an hour, so Copley
helped himself liberally to brandy and soda and lighted a fresh
cigarette.

"Any letters?" he asked.

"Nothing of importance," Foster replied. "When I left you this morning I
went round to see if I could see anything of Phillips. He wasn't at his
lodgings, and they said he wasn't expected back till to-morrow. Now what
are you going to do about that chap?"

"Oh, let him go to the devil!" Copley growled.

"My dear Copley, why do you always talk like that? Why do you think that
every man is a fool except yourself? You appear to be very prosperous.
Nobody can deny your courage. And because you are not afraid of Phillips
you seem to think he isn't dangerous. I think he is. Suppose he goes to
Scotland Yard and lays his information before the people there, and
suppose they communicate with the authorities in Cape Town, the result
will be an application for your arrest, and once you get out there you
know what will happen. It will be all U.P."

"Thinking about your own skin," Copley sneered.

"Well, and what if I am? I haven't got a sanguine temperament like
yours. Of course, we could buy Phillips off; at least we could buy him
off for the time being and keep his mouth shut till we devised some plan
for getting rid of him altogether. But he is a cunning devil, is Aaron
Phillips, and has learnt how to profit by past experience. It is no use
asking him to come to your hotel. He isn't going to walk into a trap
like that, and he isn't going to wait much longer, either. If we could
give him a thousand pounds just to go on with, why----"

"A thousand devils," Copley exclaimed furiously. "Where am I going to
get a thousand pounds? I mean, where am I going to get it just at this
moment? I've got this place here, which isn't paid for. I managed to get
the bank to advance the money till I could complete the purchase, and
the furnishing was an easy matter. One can get as much credit as one
likes in this country, provided one winks at extortionate charges. A