"Certainly. His name is Mr. Le Fenu."

"What do you make of it?" Venner said, when once more he and Gurdon were
in the street. "I see you have forgotten what the name of Le Fenu
implies. Don't you remember my telling you that the original owner of
the Four Finger Mine who was murdered by the Dutchman, Van Fort, was
called Le Fenu?"




CHAPTER XI

AN UNEXPECTED MOVE


On the whole the discovery was startling enough. It proved to
demonstration that the man who called himself Bates must have been in
some way connected with the one-time unfortunate owner of the Four Finger
Mine. There was very little said as the two friends walked down the
street together. Venner paused presently, and stood as if an idea had
occurred to him.

"I have a notion that something will come of this," he said. "I had a
great mind to go back to the agent's and try to get the key of the empty
house under some pretext or another."

"What do you want it for?" Gurdon asked.

"I am not sure that I want it for anything," Venner admitted. "I have a