By putting the meaningless pieces together
one obtains a complete design. The last piece to go into this puzzle
is the mishap that befell Naismith on that very afternoon. He was no
doubt thwarted in his design to waylay me on the road from Spanish
Falls by a singular occurrence in this tavern. He was attacked in his
room here shortly after the noon hour, overpowered, bound and gagged
by two men. They carried him to another room, where he remained until
late in the night when he managed to extricate himself. I have reason
to believe that this part of his story is true. He knew the men. They
were thieves as clever and as merciless as himself. They too were
watching for me. I may say to you now, Mr. Barnes, that he has never
posed as an honest man among his associates at Green Fancy. He glories
in his fame as a thief, but until now no one would have questioned his
loyalty to his friends. I do not know how these men learned of my
intention to come to Green Fancy. They--"
"They came to this tavern four or five days in advance of your arrival
at Green Fancy," he interrupted.
"Are you sure?" she asked in surprise.
"Absolutely."
"In that case, they could not have known," she said, deeply perplexed.
Pages:
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306