'Am I to understand--' began Gideon.

'My dear sir,' said the Australian emphatically, 'it isn't possible to
understand unless you saw them.'

'That is a painful circumstance,' said Gideon; he glanced pityingly in
the direction of the culprit, and, observing on his countenance every
mark of confusion, pityingly withdrew his eyes.

'And that would be nothing,' continued Mr Dickson sternly, 'but I
wish--I wish from my heart, sir, I could say that Mr Thomas's hands were
clean. He has no excuse; for he was engaged at the time--and is still
engaged--to the belle of Constantinople, Ga. My friend's conduct was
unworthy of the brutes that perish.'

'Ga.?' repeated Gideon enquiringly.

'A contraction in current use,' said Michael. 'Ga. for Georgia, in The
same way as Co. for Company.'

'I was aware it was sometimes so written,' returned the barrister, 'but
not that it was so pronounced.'

'Fact, I assure you,' said Michael. 'You now see for yourself, sir, that
if this unhappy person is to be saved, some devilish sharp practice will
be needed. There's money, and no desire to spare it. Mr Thomas could
write a cheque tomorrow for a hundred thousand. And, Mr Forsyth,
there's better than money. The foreign count--Count Tarnow, he calls
himself--was formerly a tobacconist in Bayswater, and passed under