"It's all to do with 'em. 'Cos o' that I let another chap bring a watch to sell, 'stead o' takin' it myself. An' 'e come back with a fine tale about Cap'en Nat offerin' to pay 'igh for them notes; an' so I was fool enough to let 'im take them too, 'stead o' goin' myself. But I watched 'im, though--watched 'im close. 'E tried to make a bolt--an'--an' so Cap'en Nat got the notes after all, it seems, then?" "Dan," said Mrs. Grimes retreating a step; "Dan, it was you! It was you, an' you're hiding for it!" The man stood awkward and sulky, like a loutish schoolboy, detected and defiant. "Well," he said at length, "s'pose it was? _You_ ain't got no proof of it; an' if you 'ad----What 'a' ye come 'ere for, eh?" She regarded him now with a gaze of odd curiosity, which lasted through the rest of their talk; much as though she were convinced of some extraordinary change in his appearance, which nevertheless eluded her observation. "I told you what I come for," she answered, after a pause. "About gettin' them notes away from Kemp--the old wretch!" "Umph! Old wretch. 'Cos 'e wanted to keep 'is cash-box, eh? Well, what's the game?" Mrs. Grimes in no way abated her intent gaze, but she came a little closer, with a sidling step, as if turning her back to a possible listener. "There was two inquests at the Hole in the Wall," she said; "two on the same day. There was Kipps, as lost the notes when Cap'en Kemp got 'em. An' there was Marr the shipowner--an' it was 'im as lost 'em first!" She took a pace back as she said this, looking for its effect. But Dan made no answer. Albeit his frown grew deeper and his eye sharper, and he stood alert, ready to treat his sister as friend or enemy according as she might approve herself. "Marr lost 'em first," she repeated, "an' I can very well guess how, though when I came here I didn't know you was in it. How did I know, thinks you, that Marr lost 'em first? I got eyes, an' I got ears, an' I got common sense; an' I see the photo you spoke of--Marr an' 'is mother, most likely; anyhow the boy was Marr, plain, whoever the woman was. It on'y wanted a bit o' thinkin' to judge what them notes had gone through. But I didn't dream you was so deep in it! Lor, no wonder Mag was frightened when I see 'er!" Still Dan said nothing, but his eyes seemed brighter and smaller--perhaps dangerous. So the woman proceeded quickly: "It's all right! You needn't be frightened of my knowin' things! All the more reason for your gettin' the notes now, if you lost 'em before. But it's halves for me, mind ye. Ain't it halves for me?" Dan was silent for a moment. Then he growled, "We ain't got 'em yet." "No, but it's halves when we do get 'em; or else I won't say another word. Ain't it halves?" Dan Ogle could afford any number of promises, if they would win him information. "All right," he said. "Halves it is, then, when we get 'em. An' how are we goin' to do it?"