"And that is all?"
"All that I know of."
"Could there be encumbrances without your knowing it?"
"I think not. I think it is impossible. Of all men your father is the last to encumber his estates in a manner unknown to his agent, and to pay off the interest in secret."
"What is it then, Mr. Somers?"
"I do not know." And then Mr. Somers paused. "Of course you have heard of a visit he received the other day from a stranger?"
"Yes; I heard of it."
"People about here are talking of it. And he—that man, with a younger man—they are still living in Cork, at a little drinking-house in South Main Street. The younger man has been seen down here twice."
"But what can that mean?"
"I do not know. I tell you everything that I do know."