"And to take the treasure with her, I suppose," said Barnes drily.
"Naturally."
"Well," began Barnes, introducing a harsh note into his voice, "I should say that if she is guilty of receiving this stolen property she ought to be punished. Jail is the place for her, Mr. Sprouse."
Sprouse put down his coffee cup rather suddenly. A queer pallor came into his face. His voice was low and a trifle husky when he made reply.
"I am sorry to hear you say that, sir."
"Why, may I ask?"
"Because it puts an obstacle in the way of our working together in this matter."
"You mean that my att.i.tude toward her is--er--not in keeping with your ideas?"
"You do not understand the situation. Haven"t I made it plain to you that she is innocent of any intent to do wrong?"
"You have said so, Mr. Sprouse, but your idea of wrong and mine may not jibe."
"There cannot be two ways of looking at it, sir," said Sprouse, after a moment. "She could do no wrong."
Whereupon Barnes reached his hand across the table and laid it on Sprouse"s. His eyes were dancing.
"That"s just what I want to be sure about," he said. "It was my way of finding out your intentions concerning her."
"What do you mean?" demanded Sprouse, staring.
"Come with me to my room," said Barnes, suppressing his excitement. "I think I can tell you where she is,--and a great deal more that you ought to know."
In the little room upstairs, he told the whole story to Sprouse. The little man listened without so much as a single word of interruption or interrogation. His sharp eyes began to glisten as the story progressed, but in no other way did he reveal the slightest sign of emotion.
Somewhat breathlessly Barnes came to the end.
"And now, Mr. Sprouse, what do you make of it all?" he inquired.
Sprouse leaned back in his chair, suddenly relaxing. "I am completely at sea," he said, and Barnes looked at him in surprise.
"By Jove, I thought it would all be as clear as day to you. Here is your man and also your woman, and the travelling bag full of--"
"Right you are," interrupted Sprouse. "That is all simple enough. But, my dear Barnes, can you tell me what Mr. Secretary Loeb"s real game is?
Why has he established himself so close to the Canadian line, and why the mobilisation? I refer to his army of huskies."
"Heirs-apparent usually have some sort of a bodyguard, don"t they?"
Sprouse was staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. He either did not hear the remark or considered it unworthy of notice. When he finally lowered his eyes, it was to favour Barnes with a deep, inscrutable smile.
"I dare say the first thing for me to do is to advise the Canadian authorities to keep a sharp lookout along the border."
CHAPTER XII
THE FIRST WAYFARER ACCEPTS AN INVITATION, AND MR. DILLINGFORD BELABOURS A PROXY
Barnes insisted that the first thing to be considered was the release of Miss Cameron. He held forth at some length on the urgency of immediate action.
"If we can"t think of any other way to get her out of this devilish predicament, Sprouse, I shall apply to Washington for help."
"And be laughed at, my friend," said the secret agent. "In the first place, you couldn"t give a substantial reason for government investigation; in the second place the government wouldn"t act until it had looked very thoroughly into the case; in the third place, it would be too late by the time the government felt satisfied to act, and in the fourth place, it is not a matter for the government to meddle in at all."
"Well, something has to be done at once," said Barnes doggedly. "I gave her my promise. She is depending on me. If you could have seen the light that leaped into her glorious eyes when I--"
"Yes, I know. I"ve heard she is quite a pretty girl. You needn"t--"
"Quite a pretty girl!" exclaimed Barnes. "Why, she is the loveliest thing that G.o.d ever created. She has the face of--"
"I am beginning to understand O"Dowd"s interest in her, Mr. Barnes.
Your enthusiasm conveys a great deal to me. Apparently you are not alone in your ecstasies."
"You mean that he is--er--What the d.i.c.kens do you mean?"
"He has probably fallen in love with her with as little difficulty as you have experienced, Mr. Barnes, and almost as expeditiously. He has seen a little more of her than you, but--"
"Don"t talk nonsense. I"m not in love with her."
"Can you speak with equal authority for Mr. O"Dowd? He is a very susceptible Irishman, I am told. Sweethearts in a great many ports,--and still going strong, as we say of the ill.u.s.trious Johnny Walker. From all that I have heard of her amazing beauty, I can"t blame him for losing his heart to her. I only hope he loses his head as well."
"I don"t believe he will get much encouragement from her, Mr. Sprouse,"
said Barnes stiffly.
"If she is as clever as I think she is, she will encourage him tremendously. I would if I were in her place."
"Umph!" was Barnes"s only retort to that.
"Is it possible that you have never had the pleasure of being transformed into a perfect a.s.s by the magic of a perfect woman, Mr.
Barnes? You"ve missed a great deal. It happened to me once, and came near to upsetting the destinies of two great nations. Mr. O"Dowd is only human. He isn"t immune."
"I catch the point, Mr. Sprouse," said Barnes, rather gloomily. He did not like to think of the methods that might have to be employed in the subjugation of Mr. O"Dowd. "There is a rather important question I"d like to ask. Is she even remotely eligible to her country"s throne?"
"Remotely, yes," said Sprouse without hesitation.
Barnes waited, but nothing further was volunteered.
"So remotely that she could marry a chap like O"Dowd without giving much thought to future complications?" he ventured.
"She"d be just as safe in marrying O"Dowd as she would be in marrying you," was Sprouse"s unsatisfactory response. The man"s brow was wrinkled in thought. "See here, Mr. Barnes, I am planning a visit to Green Fancy to-night. How would you like to accompany me?"