He had no real idea that Ralph had left any heir but Gurth, but he fancied there was a screw loose—that if all had been fair, square, and above-board, Gurth would not be so mysterious in his movements, nor so much in the power of Birnie as he evidently was. He had always had his suspicions of foul play with regard to Gurth and Ralph, and had a vague idea that some scheme had been concocted which had given Gurth the dead man’s property. The will might be a forgery, or a codicil might have been suppressed. The idea was a vague one merely, and it was suggested more by Gurth’s manner than by anything else. He had shot his arrow in the dark, but it had hit the mark. As the door closed behind Marston, Gurth sprang up and shook his fist at the place where his rival had been. ‘I’ll be even with you yet, Ned Marston!’ he exclaimed. ‘You know more than you ought to. You’ve been prying and ferreting about, and you’ve found out something, and now you think you’ve got me in your power. Wait a while, my fine fellow, and I’ll turn the tables on you, and shut your mouth tight enough, or my name’s not Gurth Egerton!’ What did Marston mean? Egerton wondered. A hundred things suggested themselves. Had he learned the secret of Gertie Heckett’s parentage? He could not say. He might even have found out where the marriage had taken place. Gurth had no doubt in his own mind there had been a marriage. There was just the chance that Ralph’s boast was that of a drunkard, but it was a very faint one. Still it was singular the certificate had never turned up. It wasn’t among Ralph s papers—of that he was sure. It couldn’t have been among the dead girl’s, or old Heckett would have been down on the property at once. It was all a mystery; but, do what he would, he could not separate Marston’s threat from Gertie Heckett. He felt sure that Marston knew something about her birth, and that she was the claimant he referred to. Why had he never said anything before? Pacing the room, and thinking, he found himself presently at the window. It was an old habit of his to pause when he was deep in thought, and look out into the street at nothing. As he looked out who should pass by on the other side but Ruth Adrian and Gertie. Close behind them came Lion, trotting along with his tail in the air, and his nose in close contact with the pavement. Something in the appearance of Gertie and the dog struck Egerton, and suddenly he remembered he had seen them pass his house once before, when he had no idea how closely they were connected with his career. The last time he saw them go by was when he was planning out his brilliant future. It was more than a coincidence that on the very day when the first part of his scheme had been frustrated by a despised rival, Gertie Heckett and her dog should once more come between him and the shadow-land that he was gazing into.