It must be done!" "Oh, very well--then in that case I suppose I'd better go with you," said Mr.Portlethorpe.

"Of course, it's no use going to the bank--they'll be closed; but we can, as you say, go privately to the manager.

And we shall be placed in a very unenviable position if Sir Gilbert Carstairs turns up with a perfectly good explanation of all this mystery." Mr.Lindsey pointed a finger at me.
"He can't explain that!" he exclaimed.

"He left that lad to drown! Is that attempted murder, or isn't it?
I tell you, I'll have that man in the dock--never mind who he is! Hugh, pass me the railway guide." It was presently settled that Mr.Portlethorpe and Mr.Lindsey should go off to Newcastle by the next train to see the bank manager.

Mr.Lindsey insisted that I should go with them--he would have no hole-and-corner work, he said, and I should tell my own story to the man we were going to see, so that he would know some of the ground of our suspicion.