of that nature, is?" he asked again.

"Aye!--well enough, Mr. Gilverthwaite," I answered him. "Ever since I was
in breeches!"

"Well," said he, "if I was my own man, I ought to meet another man near
there this very night. And--here I am!"

"You want me to meet this other man?" I asked.

"I'm offering you ten pound if you will," he answered, with a quick look.
"Aye, that is what I'm wanting!"

"To do--what?" I inquired.

"Simple enough," he said. "Nothing to do but to meet him, to give him a
word that'll establish what they term your bony fides, and a message from
me that I'll have you learn by heart before you go. No more!"

"There's no danger in it?" I asked.

"Not a spice of danger!" he asserted. "Not half as much as you'd find in
serving a writ."

"You seem inclined to pay very handsomely for it, all the same," I
remarked, still feeling a bit suspicious.

"And for a simple reason," he retorted. "I must have some one to do
the job--aye, if it costs twenty pound! Somebody must meet this
friend o' mine, and tonight--and why shouldn't you have ten pound as