O'Dowd was a soldier of
fortune. He saw vast opportunities in the scheme proposed by Loeb, and
fell in with it, whether through a mistaken idea as to its real
character or an active desire to profit nefariously time only would
tell. Green Fancy afforded an excellent base for operations. O'Dowd
induced his sister to lease the property to Loeb,--or he may even have
taken it himself. He had visited Mr. Curtis on at least two occasions.
He knew the place and its advantages. The woman known as Mrs. Collier
was not the sister of Curtis. She--but here Barnes put a check upon
his speculations. He appealed to Peter once more.
"I suppose Mrs. Collier has spent a great deal of time up here with
her brother."
"First time she was ever here, so far as I know," said Peter, and
Barnes promptly took up his weaving once more.
With one exception, he decided, the entire company at Green Fancy was
involved in the conspiracy. The exception was Miss Cameron. It was
quite clear to him that she had been misled or betrayed into her
present position; that a trap had been set for her and she had walked
into it blindly, trustingly. This would seem to establish, beyond
question, that her capture and detention was vital to the interests of
the plotters; otherwise she would not have been lured to Green Fancy
under the impression that she was to find herself among friends and
supporters.
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