THE SECRET CARGO .sx Then there's her niece , Miss Bertha Cassillis - and , say , Campenhaye , as you and I are friends , I may as well tell you that's where my love-story comes in .sx I'm very much in love with Miss Cassillis , and I'm going to ask her to marry me pretty soon .sx " Ah !sx " said Campenhaye .sx " That is interesting .sx - I hope to congratulate you .sx Well , the rest ?sx " " Why - the rest now - there's some more , of course , " said Wickersham reflectively .sx " There's Mr. and Mrs. Harpleden - they're famous for globe-trotting - they're always .sx travelling about .sx Then there's Miss Mamie Longmore - she's the Harpledens' ward .sx And there's Roy Stuvesant , the black-and-white artist - I asked him because he and .sx Mamie are just gone on each other .sx And there's Captain Harker - he's an Englishman whom I've known for some time in New York - used to be in your army here , and a jolly good fellow he is , and a born sportsman .sx And there's Mrs. Euston - she's an Englishwoman , too , and a widow - a gay and lively widow , and full of life .sx That's the lot , Campenhaye .sx " " A very interesting company , " said the specialist .sx He closed his tiny book with a snap , and put it away .sx " A very interesting company , Wickersham .sx Now , then , two questions , and when you have answered them I want to hear no more of this business to-night - not one single word more !sx The first is :sx Have you told anybody whatever of this casket business ?sx " " Not a single soul , " answered Wickersham promptly .sx " Wise man !sx " said Campenhaye .sx " And the second is - what time do you breakfast to-morrow morning on board the Magnolia ?sx " " Ten o'clock , " replied Wickersham .sx " Very good , " said Campenhaye .sx " Then at precisely a quarter to ten a gentleman named Mr. Percival Carter , whom you happen to have met this evening , and honoured with an invitation to breakfast , will come alongside to fulfil his engagement .sx Mr. Pervical Carter , you understand , who is , well , just a gentleman at large , a lounger , an idler , and a pleasant seaside acquaintance .sx And now , Wickersham , good night .sx Be off , for I am going to think !sx " When the young American was gone , Campenhaye put on a smoking-jacket , lighted his favourite briar , and rang for some whiskey and soda .sx He sat smoking and thinking until a late hour .sx And then there came a very gentle tap at the door , and in answer to Campenhaye's response , Killingley stole into the room , and , having closed the door with great care , slid into the chair which his employer pointed to , close to his own .sx His queer face was lit up with the joy of discovery .sx THIEVES IN CLOVER .sx When Campenhaye remarked to Wickersham that Killingley would take good care to look after himself , he was speaking from accurate knowledge .sx The clerk , who was posing as a valet , having seen that his master's effects were duly disposed of and that Campenhaye did not require him for the time being , set about seeing after his own dinner .sx He sought out and found the head waiter , and intimated that although he was a gentleman's gentleman , he desired to dine of the best and in great comfort , and to enjoy his bottle of wine according to his usual custom .sx And as nobody could have told Mr. Killingley in his particularly neat and well-made attire , from a fashionable jockey or a sporting peer , the head waiter , who quickly perceived that money was no object , found him a quiet table in the coffee-room , and personally attended to his needs .sx Mr. Killingley proceeded to eat and drink and be merry in a sober fashion ; meanwhile , from sheer force of habit , keeping his eyes and ears open to whatever went on around him .sx The season being then almost at its height in Great Yarmouth , the hotel was very full .sx And Killingley found plenty to amuse himself with in watching the people who were dining .sx He had been a careful observer of men and things from youth ; nothing had ever escaped his watchful eye in the solicitor's office in which he had spent many years of budding manhood as clerk , and the wits which had been sharpened there had grown keener during the five years' service which he had already had with Paul Campenhaye .sx Killingley could no more help watching people than a London cat can help keeping an eye on the sparrows , and he had a natural born faculty for committing faces to memory .sx And whenever he entered any strange place his first instinct was to look around him in a way which was neither covert nor furtive , but still quiet and secret , in order to see if there was anybody present whose face he remembered .sx It was one of his pet theories that this is in reality a very small world , and that you never know what or whom you are going to meet .sx However , when Killingley had completed his inspection of all the men and women in that upper room , he had to confess that there was no one there with whom he had had any previous acquaintance .sx There were all sorts of folk here , of all ages , and of several nationalities , but the clerk knew none of them .sx He was about to fall back upon his favourite amusement under these circumstances of speculating about his neighbours , inventing theories about them , and generally sizing them up , when the door opened , and two men entered , at the sight of whom Killingley , after one glance , bent his head , and began to be very busy with the roast duck which had just been served to him .sx And as he bent over his plate he murmured some words to himself which , to some knowing people , would have been very significant , and to most others utterly meaningless .sx " Jim the Lifter and Billy the Scribe , as I'm a living man !sx " said Killingley .sx " Here's a go !sx " The two men , ushered by a waiter , came forward to a table near his own , and Killingley presently took a careful though a swift look at them .sx One , a tall , well-built man of about forty years of age , was dark of eye and hair , clean-shaven , and of professional appearance ; he might have been a barrister , or a doctor , or an actor of standing .sx The other , a slightly younger man , fresh-coloured , was of military appearance , well set up , heavily moustached , bronzed as with much exposure to hot suns .sx Each man was well but quietly dressed , the elder man in blue , the younger in blue flannel ; their linen was immaculate , their jewellery good , but not obtrusive .sx They were polished and quiet of manner ; to any casual observer they would have seemed to be two holiday-making gentlemen , who after dinner would smoke a cigar , perhaps play a game of billiards , yawn comfortably and go early to bed to sleep the sleep of the righteous , without a care except that the glorious summer weather might last .sx But the sharp-eyed clerk , sitting within a few feet of these two , had a remarkably keen and tenacious memory and that memory at sight of them went back some years to a certain day when he , a mere boy carrying papers from a solicitor's office to the Central Criminal Court , had been allowed to remain , in order to witness the end of a certain case which had brought the two men dining there before him into the dock .sx Killingley remembered that day very well .sx It was a November day ; a nasty , dull , heavy day ; there was a thin rain in the murky air , and a sense of oppression everywhere ; outside in the Old Bailey the pavements were dirty and wet , and within the gloomy old court the atmosphere was horrible .sx He remembered the final stages of the trial ; the judge's brief and merciless summing up ; the verdict which the jury returned without troubling to leave the box ; he remembered the look of helpless anger and rage on the faces of the two men a the words of the sentence fell upon their ears - .sx " Five years' penal servitude !sx " Oh yes ; Killingley remembered it all , and every bit of it .sx Jim the Lifter , Billy the Scribe - two of the flash gang of London crooks , who played for big stakes in whatever they did , and had various aliases .sx It had been five years that time - let's see , how long since was that ?sx - oh , yes , nine years ago - and it was in Killingley's mind that he had heard they had cleared out when the term of penal servitude had come to an end , carrying their great gifts and talents elsewhere .sx But here they were , in the flesh , and in apparent high feather , in Great Yarmouth , comfortably dining amongst irreproachable surroundings , and wearing purple and fine linen , as if they had never known what it was to wear an unbecoming if useful garb liberally ornamented with the Broad Arrow Oh yes ; Billy the Scribe and Jim the Lifter , without a doubt - Killingley never forgot faces - especially the faces which he had seen looking over the ledge of a dock .sx What were they after ?sx To men who thought as Killingley had been trained to think , men like Jim the Lifter and Billy the Scribe are always after something .sx It was not in Killingley to attribute innocent motives to such gentlemen ; he would as soon have suspected a fox of innocence , when it sets out for a midnight trot in the neighbourhood of hen roosts .sx They were - up to something .sx The sharp-eyed , keen-witted clerk finished his dinner calmly and quietly , even to his coffee and his crme de menthe .sx He was in no hurry - he was two or three good stages ahead of the men before him , and he knew very well that they would have their money's worth .sx But when he had drained the last sip of the green liqueur he left the room quietly and went up to Campenhaye .sx And when he had drawn his employer into the corridor he wasted no words , but whispered his news .sx " If you are not likely to want me , sir , " said Killingley , " there are two men dining in the coffee-room upon whom I should like to keep an eye for the next hour or two .sx " " Who are they ?sx " asked Campenhaye .sx Killingley breathed two names in the specialist's ear ; he saw Campenhaye's eyes gleam .sx " All right , " said Campenhaye .sx " Be careful .sx You will come to me when you return , whatever time it is .sx " Killingley slipped away along the softly carpeted corridor .sx He went to his own room , unlocked his portmanteau , and took from it something which he put in the breast pocket of his coat .sx Then he put on a soft cap , and , going downstairs , passed through the entrance-hall into the street .sx On his way he glanced into the coffee room ; the two men were just finishing dinner .sx Outside , the purple softness of the summer night had fallen over the Esplanade and the sea .sx People were everywhere ; folks who had dined were flocking out of hotels and boarding-houses for more air before the time for sleep came ; there was laughter and chatter , and music , and the sounds of gaiety and light-heartedness on all sides .sx Killingley lighted a cigarette , and hands in pockets , mingled with the throng , lounging as unconcernedly as any of them .sx He strolled here and there in front of the hotel , but any shrewd observer who had watched the clerk's movements carefully would have noticed that he kept up a particular beat .sx For Killingley had made certain that there were but two ways by which the hotel could be left - one way , the front , admitted into the Esplanade , the other into Regent Road ; he accordingly confined his movements to a limit within which he could keep his eye on each .sx Killingley had been quick to see that Billy the Scribe and Jim the Lifter were not staying at the hotel .sx They had brought their hats and sticks into the coffee-room ; the head waiter had not asked them for any number in taking their order .sx Therefore , Killingley knew that sooner or later they would leave .sx And wherever they went there he was going also - at any rate as far as he could go .sx