Dimly wondering what new blow fortune could deal me, I sat up in bed
and looked at my uncle helplessly.

"Jasper, you think--do you not--that your father was drowned?"

"Of course, uncle."

"He was not drowned."

"Not drowned!"

"No, Jasper, he was murdered."

The words came slowly and solemnly, and even with the first shock of
surprise the whole truth dawned upon me. This, then, explained the
effect my name had wrought upon those two strange men. This was the
reason why, as we sat together upon Dead Man's Rock, the eyes of John
Railton had refused to meet mine: this was the reason why his
murderer had gripped me so viciously upon Ready-Money Beach.
These few words of my uncle's began slowly to piece together the
scattered puzzle of the last two days, so that I half guessed the
answer as I asked--

"Murdered! How?"

"He was stabbed to death."

I knew it, for I remembered the empty sheath that hung at Rhodojani's
waist, and heard again Railton's words, "Captain, it was your knife."
As certainly as if I had fitted the weapon to its case, I knew that
man had prompted father's murder. Even as I knew it my terror of him
faded away, and a blind and helpless hate sprang up in its stead:
helpless now, but some day to be masterful and worthy of heed.
That the man who called himself Georgio Rhodojani was guilty of one
death, I knew from the witness of my own eyes: that he had two more
lives upon his black account--for the hand that struck my father had
also slain my mother--I knew as surely.

"And the devil has got his due, my lads!"

No, not yet: there was still one priceless soul for him to wait for.

"He was stabbed," repeated Uncle Loveday, "stabbed to the heart, and
from behind. I found this blade as I examined your poor father's
body. It was broken off close to the hilt, and left in the wound,
which can hardly have bled at all. Death must have been immediate.
It's a strange business, Jasper, and a strange blade by the look of
it."

I took the blade from his hand. It was about four inches in length,
sharp, and curiously worked: one side was quite plain, but the other
was covered with intricate tracery, and down the centre, bordered
with delicate fruit and flowers, I spelt out the legend "Ricordati."

"What does that word mean?" I asked, as I handed back the steel.
My voice was so calm and steady that Uncle Loveday glanced at me for
a moment in amazement before he answered--

"It's not Lat