"But I know it's there. I can't explain to you how I know it--I don't understand myself--but I do. And though it seems queer, at the back of my head I've known it all the time. Luker, as sure as you are living, that money's there." "Then, in that case, instead of going yourself, why not instruct some one on the spot to examine the premises on your behalf; to pull down this famous mantelpiece, or the whole house if necessary, and report the results to you?" "Who shall I instruct? Before they move they'll perhaps want money--I expect my position is pretty generally known--and where am I to find it? In any case, they'll take their own time, and time is precious. Besides, there are enough fingers meddling in my affairs already. And who am I to trust? I don't want any one except myself to know how much I find. To speak of nothing else, shouldn't I have to pay succession duty if it were known?" "I suppose you would. Isabel, you're a curious person; a little too fond, perhaps, of doing things for yourself; yet, in delicate matters--in very delicate matters--it's a fault on the right side. How do you know you can trust me?" "You and I have seen too much of each other for me not to know when, and where, and how far I can trust you. I'm not afraid." "You're right; you needn't be. I don't think I am likely to round on you. But, on the other hand, frankly, I'm afraid of you." "Nor need you be afraid of me. It's only when I'm upset that--that I'm trying--that's all." "Even if it is all, it's a pretty big all." "About the thousand pounds. As I said, I'll give you any sort of bond you like, undertaking, if you stick to me, to pay you the moment I get the money in my hands. Anyhow you know that you'll be safe. It's not bad pay for what I'm asking you to do." "I don't say it is. When do you propose to start?" "To-morrow morning, by the ten o'clock train from King's Cross. I planned it all out before I came." "That's quick work." "It'll have to be quick work. If I don't have money, and plenty of it, within forty-eight hours, I'm undone." "I understand. By the way, I presume that you're prepared to pay all out-of-pocket expenses, for both parties, as we go on. For instance, I shall require you to hand me a return ticket to wherever we are going before I set foot inside the train. I'm a poor man, although you sometimes amuse yourself by pretending to think otherwise, and I, at any rate, can afford to take no risks." "You shall have your ticket, and I'll pay everything. I've the money to do it--but it's about as much as I have got."