'Pit him intil the Tolbooth for rinnin' awa' wi' the nugget,' retorted Mr McIntosh, vindictively.

'A very sensible suggestion,' said Gaston, approvingly, smoothing his moustache. 'What do you say, Madame?'

She shook her head.

'Let him keep his ill-gotten gains,' she said, resignedly. 'Now that he has obtained what he wanted, perhaps he'll leave me alone; I will do nothing.'

'Dae naethin'!' echoed Archie, in great wrath. 'Will ye let that freend o' Belzibub rin awa' wid a three hun'red ounces of gold an' dae naethin'? Na, na, ye mauna dae it, I tell ye. Oh, aye, ye may sit there, mem, and glower awa' like a boggle, but ye aren'a gangin' to make yoursel' a martyr for yon. Keep the nugget? I'll see him d.a.m.ned first.'

This was the first time that Archie had ever dared to cross Mrs Villiers' wishes, and she stared in amazement at the unwonted spectacle.

This time, however, McIntosh found an unexpected ally in Vandeloup, who urged that Villiers should be prosecuted.

'He is not only guilty of robbery, Madame,' said the young Frenchman, 'but also of an attempt to murder you, and while he is allowed to go free, your life is not safe.'

Selina also contributed her mite of wisdom in the form of a proverb:--

'A st.i.tch in time saves nine,' intimating thereby that Mr Villiers should be locked up and never let out again, in case he tried the same game on with the next big nugget found.

Madame thought for a few moments, and, seeing that they were all unanimous, she agreed to the proposal that Villiers should be prosecuted, with the stipulation, however, that he should be first written to and asked to give up the nugget. If he did, and promised to leave the district, no further steps would be taken; but if he declined to do so, his wife would prosecute him with the uttermost rigour of the law. Then Madame dismissed them, as she was anxious to get a little sleep, and Vandeloup went to the office to write the letter, accompanied by McIntosh, who wanted to a.s.sist in its composition.

Meanwhile there was another individual in Ballarat who was much interested in Villiers, and this kind-hearted gentleman was none other than Slivers. Villiers was accustomed to come and sit in his office every morning, and talk to him about things in general, and the Pactolus claim in particular. On this morning, however, he did not arrive, and Slivers was much annoyed thereat. He determined to give Villiers a piece of his mind when he did see him. He went about his business at 'The Corner', bought some shares, sold others, and swindled as many people as he was able, then came back to his office and waited in all the afternoon for his friend, who, however, did not come.

Slivers was just going out to seek him when the door of his office was violently flung open, and a tall, raw-boned female entered in a very excited manner. Dressed in a dusty black gown, with a c.r.a.pe bonnet placed askew on her rough hair, this lady banged on Slivers' table a huge umbrella and demanded where Villiers was.

'I don't know,' snapped Slivers, viciously; 'how the devil should I?'

'Don't swear at me, you wooden-legged little monster,' cried the virago, with another bang of the umbrella, which raised such a cloud of dust that it nearly made Slivers sneeze his head off. 'He ain't been home all night, and you've been leading him into bad habits, you cork-armed libertine.'

'Hasn't been home all night, eh?' said Slivers, sitting up quickly, while Billy, who had been considerably alarmed at the gaunt female, retired to the fireplace, and tried to conceal himself up the chimney.

'May I ask who you are?'

'You may,' said the angry lady, folding her arms and holding the umbrella in such an awkward manner that she nearly poked Slivers'

remaining eye out.

'Well, who are you?' snapped Slivers, crossly, after waiting a reasonable time for an answer and getting none.

'I'm his landlady,' retorted the other, with a defiant snort. 'Matilda Cheedle is my name, and I don't care who knows it.'

'It's not a pretty name,' snarled Slivers, prodding the ground with his wooden leg, as he always did when angry. 'Neither are you. What do you mean by banging into my office like an insane giraffe?'--this in allusion to Mrs Cheedle's height.

'Oh, go on! go on!' said that lady defiantly; 'I've heard it all before; I'm used to it; but here I sit until you tell me where my lodger is;'

and suiting the action to the word, Mrs Cheedle sat down in a chair with such a bang that Billy gave a screech of alarm and said, 'Pickles!'

'Pickles, you little bag of bones!' cried Mrs Cheedle, who thought that the word had proceeded from Slivers, 'don't you call me "Pickles"--but I'm used to it. I'm a lonely woman since Cheedle went to the cemetery, and I'm always being insulted. Oh, my nerves are shattered under such treatment'--this last because she saw the whisky bottle on the table, and thought she might get some.

Slivers took the hint, and filling a gla.s.s with whisky and water pa.s.sed it to her, and Mrs Cheedle, with many protestations that she never touched spirits, drank it to the last drop.

'Was Villiers always in the habit of coming home?' he asked.

'Always,' replied Mrs Cheedle; 'he's bin with me eighteen months and never stopped out one night; if he had,' grimly, 'I'd have known the reason of his rampagin'.'

'Strange,' said Slivers, thoughtfully, fixing Mrs Cheedle with his one eye; 'when did you see him last?'

'About three o'clock yesterday,' said Mrs Cheedle, looking sadly at a hole in one of her cotton gloves; 'his conduct was most extraordinary; he came home at that unusual hour, changed his linen clothes for a dark suit, and, after he had eaten something, put on another hat, and walked off with a stick under his arm.'

'And you've never seen him since?'

'Not a blessed sight of him,' replied Mrs Cheedle; 'you don't think any harm's come to him, sir? Not as I care much for him--the drunken wretch--but still he's a lodger and owes me rent, so I don't know but what he might be off to Melbourne without paying, and leaving his boxes full of bricks behind.'

'I'll have a look round, and if I see him I'll send him home,' said Slivers, rising to intimate the interview was at end.

'Very well, mind you do,' said the widow, rising and putting the empty gla.s.s on the table, 'send him home at once and I'll speak to him. And perhaps,' with a bashful glance, 'you wouldn't mind seeing me up the street a short way, as I'm alone and unprotected.'

'Stuff!' retorted Slivers, ungraciously, 'there's plenty of light, and you are big enough to look after yourself.'

At this Mrs Cheedle snorted loudly like a war-horse, and flounced out of the office in a rage, after informing Slivers in a loud voice that he was a selfish, cork-eyed little viper, from which confusion of words it will easily be seen that the whisky had taken effect on the good lady.

When she had gone Slivers locked up his office, and sallied forth to find the missing Villiers, but though he went all over town to that gentleman's favourite haunts, mostly bars, yet he could see nothing of him; and on making inquiries heard that he had not been seen in Ballarat all day. This was so contrary to Villiers' general habits that Slivers became suspicious, and as he walked home thinking over the subject he came to the conclusion there was something up.

'If,' said Slivers, pausing on the pavement and addressing a street lamp, 'he doesn't turn up to-morrow I'll have a look for him again. If that don't do I'll tell the police, and I shouldn't wonder,' went on Slivers, musingly, 'I shouldn't wonder if they called on Madame Midas.'

CHAPTER XV

SLIVERS IN SEARCH OF EVIDENCE

Slivers was puzzled over Villiers' disappearance, so he determined to go in search of evidence against Madame Midas, though for what reason he wanted evidence against her no one but himself--and perhaps Billy--knew.

But then Slivers always was an enigma regarding his reasons for doing things, and even the Sphinx would have found him a difficult riddle to solve.

The reasons he had for turning detective were simply these: It soon became known that Madame Midas had been robbed by her husband of the famous nugget, and great was the indignation of everyone against Mr Villiers. That gentleman would have fared very badly if he had made his appearance, but for some reason or another he did not venture forth. In fact, he had completely disappeared, and where he was no one knew. The last person who saw him was Barty Jarper, who left him at the corner of Lydiard and Sturt Streets, when Mr Villiers had announced his intention of going home. Mrs Cheedle, however, a.s.serted positively that she had never set eyes on him since the time she stated to Slivers, and as it was now nearly two weeks since he had disappeared things were beginning to look serious. The generally received explanation was that he had bolted with the nugget, but as he could hardly dispose of such a large ma.s.s of gold without suspicion, and as the police both in Ballarat and Melbourne had made inquiries, which proved futile, this theory began to lose ground.

It was at this period that Slivers a.s.serted himself--coming forward, he hinted in an ambiguous sort of way that Villiers had met with foul play, and that some people had their reasons for wishing to get rid of him.

This was clearly an insinuation against Madame Midas, but everyone refused to believe such an impossible story, so Slivers determined to make good his words, and went in search of evidence.

The Wopples Family having left Ballarat, Slivers was unable to see Mr Theodore Wopples, who had been in Villiers' company on the night of his disappearance.

Mr Barty Jarper, however, had not yet departed, so Slivers waylaid him, and asked him in a casual way to drop into his office and have a drink, with a view of finding out from him all the events of that night.

Barty was on his way to a lawn tennis party, and was arrayed in a flannel suit of many colours, with his small, white face nearly hidden under a large straw hat. Being of a social turn of mind, he did not refuse Slivers' invitation, but walked into the dusty office and a.s.sisted himself liberally to the whisky.

'Here's fun, old c.o.c.k!' he said, in a free and easy manner, raising his gla.s.s to his lips; 'may your shadow never be less.'

Slivers hoped devoutly that his shadow never would be less, as that would involve the loss of several other limbs, which he could ill spare; so he honoured Mr Jarper's toast with a rasping little laugh, and prepared to talk.

'It's very kind of you to come and talk to an old chap like me,' said Slivers, in as amiable a tone as he could command, which was not much.