He too had his suspicions that the scheming American had been concerned in the sudden fit of caution developed by Messrs.

Screw and Scratch.

He too had suspected that his quondam friend had been insincere, and that everything was not as it should be.

But he was neither so wise as Margaret, who would have told him not to soil his hands with pitch, nor so supremely indifferent as the Duke, who would have said that since he had got the money it didn't matter in the least if Barker were a brute or not.

On the contrary, Claudius promised himself to sift the evidence; and if he discovered that Barker was guilty of any double-dealing, he would simply break his neck.