IX.
The dual wedding of Stella and Marcia was set for early in the new year, and rumor had it that Sir Arthur, moved perhaps by the sight of so much billing and cooing, would shortly afterwards console himself likewise, and put a period to his bachelorhood by leading to the altar the daughter of a neighboring county magnate.
The time was rapidly approaching, and while the girls were busied with the delightful mysteries of trousseau-building the two men, Rossiter Kane and Richard Dysart, were perforce thrown much on their own resources, and naturally saw a great deal of each other. Frequent trips to town were necessary, and these they often made in company on the off-days when there was no hunting. Kane could never have told how it came about, but it was certainly not of his devising, and to have shown indifference or distaste would have been to court suspicion. And besides, the attraction was mutual; under any other conditions the older man would have been comrades with his intended brother-in-law with unfeigned heartiness.
On one of these off-day trips to London they travelled in the same compartment to Euston, and then, both being bound for the city, they chartered a hansom, which set them down at the Bank. Walking up Threadneedle Street, they came suddenly face to face with a shabby little man who at sight of them stopped short, threw up both hands with an indescribable gesture of surprise, and then, turning sharply on his heel, vanished round the comer.
It was Moses Plish!
"Funny little beggar," said Richard; "the last time I saw him was in Ladysmith; seemed to know us both!"
"Why, yes," said Kane, as nonchalantly as possible, "he is,—or was,—for I haven't set eyes on him in a long time,—one of the sharpest and shrewdest dealers in stones in all South Africa. In fact," with a quiet chuckle, "I've had some dealings with him myself in the old days."
"That's curious,—so have I," said Richard. "He's the man to whom I sold some stones, you remember, when I came out of the wilderness."
Arrived at the comer of Bishopsgate Street they parted, agreeing to meet for luncheon. As Kane turned away with a courteous wave of the hand, a sudden thought flashed through Hick's brain and held him rooted to the curb.
"By all that's holy !" he muttered, gazing after his late companion. "Could it be possible?"
Instead of doing his errand in the city, he hailed a passing hansom, and jumping in called out to the cabby "Wellington Street," and
