“Yes, I supposed he was spreading such a report,” said Lansing, “but the truth is, Mr. Carter, the last this man Yasmar saw of me was off the Long Island coast at midnight Monday, when he threw me overboard; and that brings me to the matter about which I wanted your help. You are the only man living who can help me; the question is will you do it?” “Tell me your whole story first and then I will answer you.” “I will be as brief as I can,” said Lansing. “My parents are dead, and my sister Louise and I live with our uncle, Horace Montgomery, on West Forty-fourth Street. “Mr. Montgomery is our guardian, and is the trustee of certain funds which were left to us. “Between us, Louise and I have some five hundred thousand dollars on interest with a trust company. “This man Yasmar came from the West, a month or more ago, and has interested my uncle and some Boston men in a Montana mine which he calls the Royal Ophir. “Mr. Montgomery, in spite of my objections, is determined to invest this five hundred thousand in Yasmar’s mine, but I am sure that the whole thing is a swindle from start to finish.” “How long have you felt sure that Yasmar was a swindler?” interposed Nick. “I have had a feeling that he was crooked ever since my uncle first introduced him to me.” “Just a ‘feeling.’ No other evidence prior to what happened on the Sound steamer Monday night?” “No. But the fact that Yasmar hit me on the head and threw me overboard is proof that he considered me a menace to his plans and wanted me out of the way.” “Of course. And then his spreading the report that you disappeared from Boston is another convincing detail.” “Why did he spread that report? Why didn’t he say that I committed suicide by jumping from the boat?” “That would have led to awkward questioning. Not only that, but if you were dead your money would be tied up in the probate court, and your uncle could not invest it.” “I see. That had not occurred to me before. What a consummate villain that man Yasmar is!” “If he is the fellow I am looking for,” said Nick, bluntly, “I may tell you there isn’t a more cunning scoundrel alive. But how did he manage to get the better of you on the Sound steamer? Put in all the details of the occurrence. They may help in working your case.” “Well, Mr. Carter, it happened in this way. I met Yasmar on board, and we sauntered around the deck, talking pleasantly about general affairs. All went well till about midnight. Maybe it was ten or fifteen minutes after. But just about that time we got down to business. Yasmar and I were sitting on a bench in the narrow passage between the side of the boat and the cabin, well aft where it was shady. “There was a full moon, the sky was cloudless, and the surroundings were almost as plain as day. But nobody seemed to care anything for the beauty of the scene except Yasmar and myself. “We were not, however, vastly interested ourselves in the moonlit coast line or the white-topped waves that surged past.