"Oh, you are going to beg off!" sneered the ruffian, with a look of satisfaction. "I thought you'd come to your senses."
"You are mistaken as to my intention. I want to speak to you about your sister—formerly Mrs. Thorne."
"What do you know about her?" asked the man, in extreme astonishment.
"A good deal. She is my step-mother."
"What! Are you the son of the man she married?" asked Dick, eagerly.
"I am Jasper Kent."
"That's the name. So she sent you out to me, did she? That's better than I thought She hasn't forgotten her brother, after all."
"No; you are mistaken," said Jasper. "She never so much as told me she had a brother."
Dick looked disappointed. Then, with sudden suspicion, he said, roughly:
"I believe you are lying. This Jasper Kent is rich—the heir of two-thirds of his father's property. You say you are penniless."