"I've just come from Java," said Kelly quietly, as he sat down.
Kent nodded. "I see it all now," he said. "Throgton, I wronged you. We should have known it was a sailor with a wooden leg from Java. There is no other way."
"Gentlemen," said Peter Kelly, "I've come to make my confession. It is the usual and right thing to do, gentlemen, and I want to go through with it while I can."
"One moment," said Kent, "do you mind interrupting yourself with a hacking cough?"
"Thank you, sir," said Kelly, "I'll get to that a little later. Let me begin by telling you the story of my life."
"No, no," urged Throgton and Kent, "don't do that!"
Kelly frowned. "I think I have a right to," he said. "You've got to hear it. As a boy I had a wild, impulsive nature. Had it been curbed——"
"But it wasn't," said Throgton. "What next?"
"I was the sole relative of my uncle, and heir to great wealth. Pampered with every luxury, I was on a footing of——"
"One minute," interrupted Kent, rapidly analysing as he listened. "How many legs had you then?"