The word "Zinc" touched a chord in Mr. Mountenay's brain which had lain dormant for years. Zinc! Why did zinc remind him of Leo Abraham? "Fetch the Encyclopædia Britannica, quick!" he cried. The secretary, a man of herculean build, returned with some of it. With the luck which proverbially attends rich men Mr. Mountenay picked up the "Z" volume at once. As he read the Zinc article it all came back to him. Leo Abraham had owned an empty zinc-mine! Was his enemy in his clutches at last? "Buy!" he said briefly. In a fortnight the secretary had returned. "Well," said Mr. Mountenay, "have you bought all the zinc that there is?" "Yes, Sir," said the Secretary. "And a lot that there isn't," he added. "Good!" He paused a moment. "When Mr. Leo Abraham calls," he added grimly, "show him up at once." It was a month later that a haggard man climbed the stairs of No.----, Throgneedle Street, and was shown into Mr. Mountenay's room. "Well," said the financier softly, "what can I do for you?" "I want some zinc," said Leo Abergavenny. "Zinc," said Mr. Mountenay with a smile, "is a million pounds a ton. Or an acre, or a gallon, or however you prefer to buy it," he added humorously. Leo went white. "You wish to ruin me?" "I do. A promise I made to your wife some years ago." "My wife?" cried Leo. "What do you mean? I'm not married." It was Mr. Mountenay's turn to go white. He went it. "Not married? But Miss Sloan----" Mr. Leo Abergavenny sat down and mopped his face. "I don't know what you mean," he said. "I asked Miss Sloan to marry me, and told her I was changing my name to Abergavenny. And she said that she was changing hers to Moses. Naturally, I thought----" "Stop!" cried Mr. Mountenay. He sat down heavily. Something seemed to have gone out of his life; in a moment the world was empty. He looked up at his old rival, and forced a laugh. "Well, well," he said, "she deceived us both. Let us drink to our lucky escape." He rang the bell. "And then," he said in a purring voice, "we can have a little talk about zinc. After all, business is still business." LIV. THE ADVENTURER