“I’d have you understand that we are no spring chickens down here in Africa, and what you’re trying to do we have tried and given up.
“It would be just as well for your reputation and for us, if you would drop the matter.
“Amuse yourself in Kimberley as long as you like for you will always be welcome, and admit that there’s one detective problem that you can’t solve.”
“You make me dead crazy to get to work,” retorted Trim. “What is this problem that you fellows haven’t been able to solve? I thought that Miller was comparatively a new criminal to you.”
“So he is. We never heard of him until he skipped up from Cape Town to escape you.
“The problem existed long before we ever heard of Miller, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
“I wish you would, for you have stirred up my curiosity.”
“All right, then, it’s not a long story. It begins back about ten years ago.
“This town was more of a frontier settlement then than it is now, and it was not such an easy thing to preserve order. I had been on the police force for some time and had gained the rank of sergeant.
“There was always plenty to do in those days, for the diamond diggings attracted desperate characters from all parts of the world.”