you swing on my hook."

"No, I don't," contradicted Garvington sharply. "I can't be arrested."

"For forging that letter you can!"

"Not at all. I did not write it to lure Pine to his death, but only
wished to maim him."

"That will get you into trouble," insisted Silver, anxious to have a
companion in misery.

"It won't, I tell you. There's no one to prosecute. You are the person
who is in danger, as you knew Miss Greeby to be guilty, and are
therefore an accessory after the fact."

"If Mr. Lambert has the honor of your family at heart he will do
nothing," said the secretary hopefully; "for if Miss Greeby is arrested
along with me the writing of that letter is bound to come out."

"I don't care. It's worth a million."

"What is worth a million?"

"The exposure. See here, Silver, I hear that Mother Cockleshell is
willing to hand over that sum to the person who finds the murderer of
her grandson. We know that Miss Greeby is guilty, so why not give her
up and earn the money?"

The secretary rose in quivering alarm. "But I'd be arrested also. You
said so; you know you said so."

"And I say so again," remarked Garvington, leaning back coolly. "You'd
not be hanged, you know, although she would. A few years in prison
would be your little lot and when you came out I could give you
say--er--er--ten thousand pounds. There! That's a splendid offer."

"Where would you get the ten thousand? Tell me!" asked Silver with a
curious look.

"From the million Mother Cockleshell would hand over to me."

"For denouncing me?"

"For denouncing Miss Greeby."

"You beast!" shrieked Silver hysterically. "You know quite well that if
she is taken by the police I have no chance of escaping. I'd run away
now if I had the cash. But I haven't. I count on your cousin keeping
quiet because of your family name, and you shan't give the show away."

"But think," said Garvington, persuasively, "a whole million."

"For you, and only ten thousand for me. Oh, I like that."

"Well, I'll make it twenty thousand."

"No! no."

"Thirty thousand."

"No! no! no!"

"Forty, fifty, sixty, seventy--oh, hang it, you greedy beast! I'll give
you one hundred thousand. You'd be rich for life then."

"Would I, curse you!" Silver clenched his fists and backed against the
wall looking decidedly dangerous. "And risk a life-long sentence to get
the money while you take the lion's share."

"You'd only get ten years at most," argued the visitor, anno