Evening star., 1921-06-06
THE AVENCER
BY E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM.
A Tale of Political Intri que and Private
Revenge.
Copyright, By Little. Brown & Coz

ment upon Wrayson. and for second or
two longer upon hisscompanion.
Good afternoon. Mr.. Bentham
Wrayson said. MY name is Wray-
son-you remember me, dare say.
Il remember you. certainly, MT
Wrayson." the lawyer answered. HIS
eyes were resting once more upon
Sydney Barnes.
This" Wrayson explained. is Mr..
Sydney Barnes. a brother of the Mr.
Morris Barnes. who was. l believe,
client of yours"
Scarcely" the lawyer murmured. "a
client of mine. although 1 must con-
fess that 1 was anxious to secure him
ss one. Possibly if he had lived a
few more hours. the epithet would
have been in order"
Wrayson nodded.
From a letter which we found in
Mr.. Barnes desk he remarked. we
concluded that some business was
pending between you. Hence our
visit
Mr. Bentham betrayed no sign OF
interest or curiosity of any sort.
Il regret" he said. that l cannot
cffer you chairs. am not accustomed
to receive my clients here. If you
care to be seated upon that form,
pray do so'
Wrayson glanced at the form and
declined Sydney Barnes seemed
scarcely to have heard the invitation.
His eyes were glued upon the law
yer's face.
will you tell me precisely" Mr..
Bentham said. ''in what way can be
of service to xou?"
II want to know where my brothers
money is," Barnes declared. stepping
a little forward: Two thousand a
bankbook. Five hundred pounds every
quarter day! And we can't find a
copper! You were his lawyer. or
were going to be. You must have
known something about his position"
Mr.. Bentham looked straight ahead
with still, impassive face. No trace
of the excitement in Sydney Barnes
face was reflected in his features.
1.-TWO thousand year" he repeated
calmly. 'It was really as much as
that. was it? Your brother had. I
me. I had no idea. though, that it
was quite SO large"
st am his heir" the young man de-
clared, feverishly. "I'll take my oath
there's no one else. I'm going to take
out letters of administration. He
hadn't another relation on Gods
earth"
Mr.. Bentham regarded the young
man thoughtfully.
"Have you any idea. Mr.. Barnes" he
asked. "as to the source of this in
Gomez"
swered. That's why we're here. You
must know something about it,
Your brother was not my client"
the lawyer said slowly. IF his death
that he might have been. AS it is.
know very little of his affairs. I am
afraid that can be of very little use
to you"
"You must know something" Barnes
declared doggedly. You must tell us
I0 l.
"Your brother was" Mr.. Bentham
said, "a very remarkable man. Has
it never occurred to you, Mr.. Barnes,
that this two thousand year might
have been money received In payment
of services rendered-might have
been, in short, in the nature Of sal
ary?"
temptuously. Morris did no work at
all He did nothing but just enjoy
himself and spend money"
spend money" Mr.. Bentham repeated.
"Ah! Did you see a great deal of your
brother during the last few .years?"
'I saw nothing of him at all. was
out in South Africa. 1 have only just
long ago" the young man added. with
a note of evaporation in his tone. "if
I'd had any idea of the luck he was
in. Why. lent him bit to come
back with, though was only earn
ings thirty bob a week, and the brute
a farthing over"
'sThat was not considerate of him."
Mr.. Bentham agreed-"not at all con-
siderate. Your brother had the COM
mand OF considerable sums Of money.
In fact. Mr.. Barnes. I. may tell you:
without any breach Of confidence.
think that II he had kept his appoint
mert with me on then night when
he was murdered. was prepared. on
kehalf of nv client. to hand him a