Page:What will he do with it.djvu/464

454 man had arrived just in time to take his place in the night train from the north toward London, stopping there at four o'clock in the morning. The station-master remembered the stranger buy- ing the ticket, but did not remark his appearance. The porter did, however, so far notice liim, as he hurried into a first-class carriage, that he said afterward to the station-master, ' Why, that gentleman has a gray cloak just like Mr. Losely's. If he had not been thinner and taller, I should have thought it was Mr. Losely.'

"Well, Losely went to the same station the next morning, tak- ing an early train, going thither on foot, with his carpet-bag in his hand; and both the porter and station-master declared that he had no cloak on him at the time; and as he got into a second- class carriage, the porter even said to him, ' 'Tis a sharp morning, Sir; I'm afraid you'll be cold.' Furthermore, as to tire purpose for which Losely had wished to borrow of the money-lender, his brother-in-law stated that Losely's son had been extravagant, had contracted debts, and was even hiding from his creditors in a country town, at which William Losely had stopped for a few hours on his way to London. He knew the young man's em- ployer had written kindly to Losely several davs before, lament- ing the son's extravagance; intimating that unless his debts were discharged, he must lose the situation in which otherwise he might soon rise to competence, for that he was quick and sharp; and that it was impossible not to feel indulgent toward him, he was so lively and so good-looking. The trader added that he would forbear to dismiss the young man as long as he could. It was on the receipt of that letter that Losely had entered into communication with the money-lender, whom he had come to town to seek, and to whose house he was actually going at the very hour of Gunston's arrival. But why borrow of the money- lender, if he had just stolen more money than he had any need to borrow?

"The most damning fact against Losely, by the discovery in his possession of the ^5 note, of which Mr Gunston deposed to have taken the number, was certainly hard to get over; still, an ingenious lawyer might have thrown doubt on Gunston's testi- mony—a man confessedly so careless might have mistaken the number, etc. The lawyer went, with these hints for defence, to see Losely himself in prison; but Losely declined his help—be- came very angry—said that he would rather suffer death itself than have suspicion transferred to some innocent man; and that as to the cloak, it had been inside his carpet bag. So you see, bad as he was, there was something inconsistently honorable left