Leah winced at this rude blast of speech, which blew to shreds the verbal draperies with which she was trying to clothe naked and unpleasant facts. "I object to the word kidnap. Lord James went with you of his own accord." "You kin lay to that, ma'am, an' mighty spry wos he in lightin' out of these gilded halls int' the free an' wild. Kidnappin' it ain't, if y' come t' th' bone, so I climb down slick. Oh, there ain't no meanness 'bout me, ma'am. Prove me wrong, an' I go pious right along." "As you are apparently pious now, Captain Strange, there may be a chance of our arriving at an understanding." He nodded. "If as how you'll talk down t' th' bed-rock level of what we've bin doin', ma'am." Leah winced again, not liking to run with this ruffian in iniquitous harness. "You want a thousand pounds?" "Well," drawled the captain, "y' might say fairer than thet." "Which means that you intend to ask for what you won't get." "Huh! Guess thet'll be as right as pie, when I open out." "You can open out now," said Lady Jim, coolly. Her antagonist admired this bluffing to the extent of slapping his thigh, and chuckling like a blackbird over a worm. "You're a dandy one t' deal with, fur sure, an' a woman at that. My word"--this was Australian--"if my missus hed bin your sort, ma'am, I'd ha' bin walkin' a liner as a golden-barred skipper. You kin freeze on t' thet, straight." Lady Jim laughed, not ill pleased. Aksakoff had paid her some such compliment, and it was interesting to see the diverse ways in which the same idea can be expressed. "Go on," said she, nodding her thanks. "Don't waste chin-music, neither," mused the captain. "Want's t' git at my cards afore she shows her own." "You are in the right so far, Captain Strange" "Talks book English like print. If she ain't a queen of dimins an' hearts I'm----" "I have no doubt you will be some day," interposed Leah, before he could get the word out; "but until you are, suppose you--er--open out." "Touchin' the passage money, as you might call it in a high-falutin' way, ma'am?" "Passage money for my husband?" "An' fur a double of his, as negotiated the Noo Jerusalem on th' v'yge," nodded the captain, extending his long legs. "Then there's th' man we planted at Funchal." "Your nephew--buried in place of Mr. Garth." "Nephew! Oh, he wasn't any relative o' mine." "Dr. Demetrius informed me that he was." "Huh! Guess he wos filled up with thet idear by me. Yes, ma'am, I reckoned t' make more dollars by supplyin' a nevy as a corp. But he wos a pick-up, bless y', racketin' off chain, withouter friend, wife, or kid, till I help plant him in Madeira." "Will inquiries be made about him?" she asked, carelessly. "Y' make me smile some, ma'am. Why, I picked up a stray dog o' purpose." "H'm!" said Leah, lying back comfortably; "it would have been better for your pocket had you withheld this information until you cashed my cheque. It will make a difference."