"Twenty pounds!"
"Very well, gents all, we'll say twenty, tho' to my mind it ought to be another tenner. But, as I ses, I sees this reward, and comes up to get it. I have got it," said Jawkins, slapping his pocket, "tho' not the amount I did expect; now, having told all, I goes, hoping you'll catch that black-white nigger and hang him, for I think he is a aristocrat, and I hates them, they being my natural enemies."
Having heard this history, Fanks let Berry Jawkins go, as there was no reason why he should be detained. First, however, he found out that Mr. Jawkins was always to be heard of at the Eight Bells in his capacity of barman. The man having left the room, Fanks turned towards Garth and Herbert to see what they thought of the revelation which had been so unexpectedly made. They returned his gaze, and Garth was the first to break the silence.
"Well," he said, in a low tone, "so Hersham is the culprit after all?"
"Pardon me, Garth; but I do not think that we have proved that yet. What do you say, Mr. Vaud?"
"I can say nothing," replied Herbert, coldly. "I have no opinion in the matter. As my father is absent I am attending to the case by his desire; but, personally speaking, I would not lift one finger to discover the assassin--or rather, the punisher of Gregory Fellenger."
"You hated him then?" said Fanks, quietly.
"I hated him; I still hate him; even though he is dead. You wonder at my speaking in this way, Mr. Fanks, but--"
"No!" replied Fanks, with a certain pity in his tone. "I do not wonder; your father told Mr. Garth here the story of Emma Calvert; and Mr. Garth repeated it to me. I know you hate the very memory of that dead scoundrel."
"Can you wonder at it?" said Herbert again. "I loved her; she did not love but she might have grown to do so in time. But he came with his lies and money to drag her away from me. He married her certainly, but he drove her to suicide; and if he had not met with his death by this unknown hand, he would have had to reckon with me for his baseness."