Jack Meredith had met all that before.
But there was something different about Durnovo.

He was not suitably got up.

Your bar-room prospective millionaire is usually a jolly fellow, quite prepared to quench any man's thirst for liquor or information so long as credit and credulity will last.

There was nothing jolly or sanguine about Durnovo.

Beneath his broad-brimmed hat his dark eyes flashed in a fierce excitement.