represented by a certified check, an' payable in London!"

[Illustration: "'EVERY BLOOMIN' MILLION WAS REPRESENTED BY A CERTIFIED
CHECK, AN' PAYABLE IN LONDON'"]

"By Jingo!" cried Morgan. "What fearful luck! But you had the prima
donna's jewels."

"Yes," said Hawkins, with a moan. "But they was like all other prima
donna's jewels--for advertisin' purposes only, an' made o' gum-arabic!"

"Horrible!" said Abeuchapeta. "And the crew, what did they say?"

"They was a crew of a few words," sighed Hawkins. "Werry few words, an'
not a civil word in the lot--mostly adjectives of a profane kind. When I
told 'em what had happened, they got mad at Fortune for a-jiltin' of 'em,
an'--well, I came here. I was 'sas'inated that werry night!"

"They killed you?" cried Morgan.

"A dozen times," nodded Hawkins. "They always was a lavish lot. I met
death in all its most horrid forms. First they stabbed me, then they shot
me, then they clubbed me, and so on, endin' up with a lynchin'--but I
didn't mind much after the first, which hurt a bit. But now that I'm here
I'm glad it happened. This life is sort of less responsible than that
other. You can't hurt a ghost by shooting him, because there ain't nothing
to hurt, an' I must say I like bein' a mere vision what everybody can see
through."

"All of which interesting tale proves what?" queried Abeuchapeta.