“It is about my uncle and Mr. Codd that I want to speak to you,” she said, sinking her voice a little, as if she were afraid they might hear.

“And what about them?”

“I want to be loyal to them, and yet I want to know what you think of the whole affair,” she said, looking intently at me as she spoke.  “Believe me, I have good and sufficient reasons for my request.”

“I am to tell exactly what I think about their pursuit of this man Hayle?  And what chances of success I think they possess?” I said.

“I am not thinking so much of their success,” she returned, “as of the real nature of their case.”

“I believe I understand what is passing in your mind,” I said.  “Indeed I should not be surprised if the suspicion you entertain is not the same as I have myself.”

“You have been suspicious then?”

“I could scarcely fail to be,” I replied.

“Perhaps you will tell me what you suspect?”

“Will you forgive me, in my turn, if I am abrupt, or if I speak my mind a little too plainly?”

“You could not do that,” she answered with a sigh.  “I want to know your exact thoughts, and then I shall be able to form my own conclusions.”

“Well,” I said, “before I begin, may I put one or two questions to you?  You will, of course, remember that I had never seen or heard of your uncle and Mr. Codd until they stopped me on Ludgate Hill.  They were and practically are strangers to me.  I have heard their story of their treasure, but I have not heard what any one else has to say upon the subject.”

“I think I understand.  Now what are your questions?”

“In the first place, did your late father ever speak to you of his brother as being a missionary in China?”

She shook her head, and from the look upon her face I could see that I had touched upon something painful.  This, at least, was one of the things that had struck her as suspicious.

“If he were a missionary, I am quite sure my father did not know it,” she said.  “In fact I always understood that he was somewhat of a scapegrace, and in consequence could never settle down to anything.  That is your first, now what is your second question, Mr. Fairfax?”

I paused for a moment before I replied.

“My second partakes more of the nature of an assertion than a question,” I answered.  “As I read it, you are more afraid of what may happen should the two men meet than anything else.”

“Yes, that is just what I am afraid of,” she replied.  “My uncle’s temper is so violent, and his desire for revenge so absorbing, that I dare not think what would happen if he came into actual contact with Hayle.  Now that I have replied to your questions, will you give me the answer I want?  That is to say will you tell me what you think of the whole affair?”