and was brought up in Egypt as a boy--just the man for the job if he
will go."

I reflected a moment, then, obeying some sort of instinct, looked up and
asked:

"Will you, Captain Orme, if terms can be arranged?"

"Yesterday," he replied, colouring a little, "I should have answered,
'Certainly not.' To-day I answer that I am prepared to consider the
matter--that is, if Higgs will go too, and you can enlighten me on
certain points. But I warn you that I am only an amateur in the three
trades that the Professor has mentioned, though, it is true, one with
some experience."

"Would it be rude to inquire, Captain Orme, why twenty-four hours have
made such a difference in your views and plans?"

"Not rude, only awkward," he replied, colouring again, this time more
deeply. "Still, as it is best to be frank, I will tell you. Yesterday
I believed myself to be the inheritor of a very large fortune from an
uncle whose fatal illness brought me back from South Africa before I
meant to come, and as whose heir I have been brought up. To-day I have
learned for the first time that he married secretly, last year, a woman
much below him in rank, and has left a child, who, of course, will take
all his property, as he died intestate. But that is not all. Yesterday I
believed myself to be engaged to be married; to-day I am undeceived
upon that point also. The lady," he added with some bitterness, "who
was willing to marry Anthony Orme's heir is no longer willing to marry
Oliver Orme, whose total possessions amount to under £10,000. Well,