"The murder of a Polynesian girl called Tera, or Bithiah." "It's a lie!" cried Finland, violently. "I never killed the poor girl. I loved her too well to lay a finger on her." Johnson, who had remained silent till now, turned to the sailor. "Unhappy man," he said solemnly, "do not add falsehood to your sins of murder and theft. Tera left this house with the pearls, and when her dead body was found the pearls were gone. Your captain, Shackel, came to blackmail me for----" "What, Shackel?" cried Jack, savagely; "the blamed old shellback." "Yes; Captain Jacob declared that I had sold the pearls in London. He demanded five hundred pounds as the price of his silence. I declined to compound a felony, and at once informed Slade, here, of the man's threat. Slade went to London for the purpose of seeing this gentleman to whom the pearls had been sold, and----" "Yes, I did that," said the constable, excitedly, cutting the minister short, "and I called on Mr. Moss. His description of the seller applied so exactly to you that I wrote to Mr. Johnson, asking him to get you to come here that we might confront you with Moss." "S'elp me, that'th ath true ath taxeth," said Moss, "and thith polithman, he took me from my buthiness to identify you by thaying ath he'd run me in for rethieving thtolen goodth. How did I know you'd thtolen the pearlth, you beatht? You thaid your name wath Brown, and you'd brought the pearlth with you from the Thouth Theath. You got my money--yeth, two thouthandth poundth. Give it back to me, and pay me for coming all thith way to pick you out. Thith buthiness will ruin me." "I also was informed of the matter by Mr. Johnson," chimed in Chard, "so I am here, you see, to take part in your reception. I had my suspicions about you--they were well founded it seems." "You think so," retorted Finland, "but you're a long way out, let me tell you. I never put a hand on the girl." "Then how did you come by the pearls?" "Shan't tell you; mind your own business." "That's just what both of us is about to do," said Slade, forgetting for the moment the presence of his superior officer. "Mr. Inspector will keep you here, and I'm off to get a warrant for your arrest. Mr. Moss will come with me." Small matters such as that of precedence did not exist for the ambitious Slade at this juncture. "Mither Moth will; but I hope Mither Moth will be paid for all thith trouble. It'th ruin to leave one'th buthineth like thith. If I have to give back thothe pearlth I mutht have my money back." "We'll attend to all that," said Slade, taking the Jew's arm. "As to getting your money back, I'm afraid that won't be so easy, Mr. Moss," said Chard. "Since I received the intelligence of Finland's guilt, I have been making inquiries, and I find he is part owner of the schooner lying out in the bay yonder. I expect he spent the money in buying her." "Oh, you thwindler!" cried the excited Hebrew, "ith thith tho?"