"Now," he went on, turning to the butler.

"What is it?
You can speak freely--we are all three--Mr.Portlethorpe, Mr.Moneylaws, and myself--pretty well acquainted with all that is going on, by this time.

And--I'm perhaps not far wrong when I suggest that you know something ?" The butler, who had taken the chair which Mr.Lindsey had pointed out, rubbed his hands, and looked at us with an undeniable expression of cunning and slyness.
"Well, sir!" he said in a low, suggesting tone of voice.

"A man in my position naturally gets to know things--whether he wants to or not, sometimes.

I have had ideas, gentlemen, for some time." "That something was wrong ?" asked Mr.Portlethorpe.
"Approaching to something of that nature, sir," replied the butler.