"You are not going to turn back after putting your hand to the plow?" he said, when Claude first broached the subject of abandoning the case.
"Why not, if the plow won't move?" returned the young man flippantly.
"The plow will move," returned Tait vehemently. "You got my last letter?"
"I did. But I don't see that it contains anything likely to elucidate the mystery. Your Dick Pental is a madman; your Miss Pike an untrustworthy gossip."
"That is your opinion, not mine. I have made a discovery since writing my last letter, of which I have not yet had time to inform you."
"I'll tell you later on. Meanwhile is it on account of this girl that you have decided to abandon the case?"
"Partly, and partly because I think we are wasting time. Our investigation can lead to no result."
"We may find out who killed your father."
"I doubt that," replied Larcher coolly. "You suspect Hilliston; you suspect Jeringham; you suspect Mona Bantry. Why, in your last letter you hinted at the guilt of Denis, simply because a drunken lunatic told you a wild story; yet, so far as I can see, you have not a morsel of evidence against any one of the four."
"You are wrong," said Tait, in an argumentative manner. "The misfortune is that there is too much evidence against them all. I could furnish you with a case against each which--so far as circumstantial evidence is concerned--would convince you of their individual guilt."
"We'll prove that soon, my boy," said Tait, with exasperating coolness, "if you back out of the case, I at least am determined to see it through. I suppose you are bent on marrying the young lady."
"Humph! There's another obstacle which you have overlooked. The consent of her father--our mysterious friend, Paynton."
"I have not overlooked the obstacle. I will obtain his consent from his own lips."
"Through the agency of Mr. Hilliston," replied Larcher calmly. "He has agreed to introduce me to Paynton to-morrow. Here is his letter."
The little man fairly bounded from his chair, and he took the letter from his friend's hand with an air of bewilderment. After mastering the contents he returned it with a satisfied nod.
"I congratulate you, Claude," he said, with a good-humored air. "Though you failed with the man, you may succeed with the matter. But how in the name of Olympian Jove did you induce Hilliston to do this?"