"On the following day?"
"It is uncertain."
"Your movements, then, do not depend entirely upon yourself? You are not alone?"
"Am I in the witness-box," demanded Leonard, beginning to lose his temper.
"You are. And when I have done with you, you shall place me in the witness-box, and I will be frank with you. It is best for men like ourselves to be friends, Leonard. Who knows? We may be able to serve each other. Allow me to remind you that you are in my debt. Our last transaction in Ballarat was when we laid a snare to sell a man of substance a golden claim. The price was five thousand pounds. The stuff at the bottom of the shaft was salted--with gold purchased with my money. At that time you had none--that is, you said you had none; so I expended my last fifty pounds in the purchase of twelve ounces, which we distributed cunningly in the wash-dirt below. The plant almost came off, but it was discovered one moment too soon. We had only to fly; and then we lost sight of each other. You did not wait to pay the half of the fifty pounds--a shabby trick."
From his pocket-book Leonard extracted twenty-five pounds in bank notes, which he handed to Dr. Peterssen.
"I am out of your debt."
"Not at all. There is the interest, which I shall not exact to-night, but in the future, from time to time. You pay so readily that you are worth sticking to; you think so lightly of twenty-five pounds that you must be rolling in money. Back to my questions. You are not alone?"
"I am not."
"Shall we say, a lady? Ah, fortunate man! Susceptible heart! Forever putting itself into chains. There was a lady on the other side. And there is a lady on this. I see it in your face.",