"I'll tell you, briefly, what brought me here," he said, after his first cup. "To-day, about noon, I had a visit from a Sir Charles Sperrigoe, who, after introducing himself as a fellow solicitor from a distant part of the country, told me that he had just ascertained in the town that I was solicitor to Mr. James Parslewe of Kelpieshaw; that he had been out to Kelpieshaw to find Mr. Parslewe, had failed to find him, and so had come to me. He then told me a very wonderful tale, which I am quite at liberty to tell you, and will tell to you presently. But first, I want to hear from Mr. Craye a story which I think he can tell about Newcastle. Sir Charles is under the impression that Mr. Craye told something to Mr. Parslewe last night which sent him off on his travels. I should like to hear that story, and then I'll tell you what Sir Charles Sperrigoe told me, under persuasion."
"I'd better tell you the plain facts about the whole affair, from the coming here of a man named Pawley until your own arrival just now," said I. "You'll then have the entire history of the matter before you, as far as I know it. It's this———"
