"Come, then," said the police officer abruptly, "who did you see? Did
you, for instance, see the Christian boy, Absalom, Mhtoon Pah's
assistant?"

The Rev. Francis Heath made no answer.

"Did you see him?"

"I will not answer any further questions, but since you ask me, I did
see the boy."

"Thank you, Heath; that took some getting at. Now will you tell me if
you saw him again later: I am supposing that you went down the wharf and
came back, shall I say, in an hour's time. Did you see Absalom again?"

The clergyman stared out of the window, and his pause was of such
intensely long duration that when he said the one word, "No," it fell
like the splash of a stone dropped into a deep well.

Hartley looked at his sleeve-links for quite a long time.

"Good night, Heath," he said, getting up, but the Rev. Francis Heath
made no reply.

Hartley went back to his bungalow with something to think about. He had
always regarded Heath as a difficult and rather violently religious man.
They had never been friends, and he knew that they never could be
friends, but he respected the man even without liking him. Now he was
quite convinced that Heath, after some deliberation with his conscience,