“What!” ejaculated Dick.  He had not expected anything of this sort.

“I knew you would be surprised, Dick, and you’ll be more surprised when I get through.”

“Are the Lanings in this?” questioned Sam, thinking of Grace.

“They are in a certain sense—­or will be if everything turns out successfully.  When Mr. Stanhope died he left most of his property to Mrs. Stanhope and Dora—­the majority to Dora—­but a small share was left to the Lanings, they being so closely related and such good friends.”

“But what is it all about?” asked Tom, impatiently.

“As I said before, I must start at the beginning, or perhaps you won’t understand at all.  As you know, Mr. Stanhope died some years ago.  He was interested in various business enterprises, including a number of vessels which carried freight between the United States and the West Indies.  One of his partners in the freight carrying business was a man named Robertson and another was a Silas Merrick.”

“Merrick!” cried Sam.

“Yes, and this Silas Merrick was an older brother to Sid Merrick, the rascal who stole the bonds, and whom you heard mentioned by Cuffer and Shelley.  Let me say here that Silas Merrick is dead, and when he died he left all his property to his brother Sidney and his sister.  The sister is dead, too, and her property, so I understand, went to her son Tad Sobber.”

“This is getting deep,” said Tom, his sunny face growing wrinkled.

“It will soon get deeper, Tom.  During the time that the firm of Stanhope, Robertson & Merrick were carrying freight from the West Indies there was a fierce revolution in Central America.  Some families of high rank were forced to flee, among them a nobleman named Parmonelli, who left home carrying with him gold and diamonds worth many thousands of dollars.  He managed to get on board one of the vessels owned by Mr. Stanhope’s firm, and Mr. Stanhope was on the ship at the same time.  The vessel was followed by revolutionists who were no better than pirates, and after a fierce fight the revolutionists shot Parmonelli and carried off his fortune.”

“This is certainly getting deep,” murmured Sam.

“Parmonelli was not killed at once, but died two days after being shot down.  He was very bitter against the revolutionists, and said they had no right to take his fortune from him—­that it was his and did not belong to the state.  As Mr. Stanhope had befriended him to the last he made a will, leaving the fortune to Mr. Stanhope if the same could be recovered.”

“And how much was it?” questioned Dick.

“I cannot say exactly the will mentions six bags of gold and one bag of precious stones, all packed in several chests.”

“It’s queer I never heard of this from Dora,” said Dick.  “She told me about the other money her father left.”

“Mr. Stanhope kept the matter to himself, and at his death told only Mr. Laning, for—­as you know—­Mrs. Stanhope was then in delicate health and it was deemed very unwise to excite her.”