Small and petty offences only were those which came within his capacity.
For some time he had been connected with a gang of card-sharpers, living under an alias, and depending for his food and drink upon the small wits which Providence had vouchsafed him.

It was during a dispute in one of the lowest doss-houses in the place that he met his death.

There had been a quarrel, a scuffle, a death-thrust with a knife by a cold-blooded Chinaman, and it was not until the authorities had searched the body, that his identity had been discovered.
Derrick received the news of the death of Miriam's husband, the one-time recognised heir to the title and estate, from the British Consul; and he received the grim tidings with something like relief.

His was the task to convey the tragic information to Miriam.

Of that interview nothing shall be said.