I have only to go into the City to-morrow and breathe here and there a word about a certain old gentleman who shall be nameless, and you would be a ruined man in something less than an hour; added to this, my friend, you would most certainly be arrested for conspiracy and fraud.

That Syndicate of yours was a very smart stroke of business, no doubt, and it was clever of you to keep me in ignorance of it, but as things have turned out now, that will be your condemnation.

They will say, why did you keep me in ignorance of this move, and the answer--why, it is very clear! I knew you were selling what was not yours to sell!" "I kept you away," Trent said scornfully, "because I was dealing with men who would not have touched the thing if they had known that you were in it!" "Who will believe it ?" Da Souza asked, with a sneer.

"They will say that it is but one more of the fairy tales of this wonderful Mr.Scarlett Trent." The breath came through Trent's lips with a little hiss and his eyes were flashing with a dull fire.

But Da Souza held his ground.