Richard struggled to his feet and stood with clenched hands.

"All right, my lads," he said. "You go ahead but I'll see you damned
before I talk."

He could hear the ice-cold wind whining through the registers as though
in derision of his boast. It cut him to the bone through his thin silk
pyjamas.

For the rest of the night Richard Frencham Altar paced the floor,
stamping his feet and beating one hand against the other.

CHAPTER 13.

HARRISON SMITH.

When the young man named Smith left Laurence's house after his
interview with Richard he was slightly angry and not a little puzzled.
The cause of his perplexity was the humorous lines round Richard's eyes
and the cause of his anger was his failure to have noted them when
first they met in the taxi and travelled home together on the Golders
Green tube.

He had remarked on the peculiarity of this circumstance when he found
Hipps and Van Diest in the dining room and had received no other
comment than a snub from the American for his lack of observation.

These two gentlemen were in a state of exaggerated well being induced
by enthusiasm over the capture they had made. Hipps was laying odds
that after a course of treatment Anthony Barraclough would not only
give away the secret but would breathe his first sweetheart's pet name.
Van Diest was more concerned with details for the notation of the
future radium company.

They appeared to regard the intrusion of Mr. Smith as a nuisance.

"Seems to me, gentlemen," he said, "there's something queer about the
whole business. Barraclough was known to be starting tonight--and
instead you succeed in laying him by the heels."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing--except that it was all so infernally easy. Then again the
fellow seems in such high spirits."

Van Diest wrinkled his forehead and nodded at this but Hipps waved it
aside.

"Take it from me, he's in darn sight lower spirits than he wants us to
think. Anthony's a sport and he'll sure pull the cucumber act as long
as the cool weather lasts."

"You may be satisfied, gentlemen, but I'm not! You don't think he'd
have given the information to anyone else."

Van Diest looked at the young man with a pitying smile.

"If you wass possessed millions and millions of pounds, my friend, iss
it very likely you would trust anyone to look after it?"

"Perhaps not----"

"Very well then."

"Still I'm sure there's something fishy. If I might be allowed to