“Then,” said Charles Waldo significantly, “I shall raise the question of his sanity. It won’t be a difficult matter to prove him insane. It only needs a certificate from a couple of doctors. I think I can find two parties who will oblige me.”

“I say, Waldo, you’re a cool, calculating fellow!” Thompson was about to use another word, but checked himself. “I wouldn’t like to stand in your way.”

“Nonsense! I only want to do what is right.”

“And it very conveniently happens that you consider right what is to your interest. I say, have you any idea how the boy came to disappear?”

“Of course not! How should I?” answered Waldo uneasily.

“I don’t know, but as he stood in your way, I thought——”

“You think too much,” said Waldo.

“Oh, I don’t mean to censure you. I suppose if I had been in your place I might have been tempted.”

“I know nothing about the boy’s disappearance,” said Waldo hastily; “but let us drop that. I sent for you because I saw that you could serve me.”

“Go on; if there’s money in it, I am your man.”