"Then why did he take the man's money, eh? Well, go on with your
story."
I breathed more easily for a while, but by-and-by, when I came to
tell of the discussion by the old windmill, I felt her eyes upon me
again.
"Wait a moment. Captain Coffin gave you a key, and this key was to
open the corner cupboard in his lodgings. Wasn't it rather foolish
of him to send you, seeing that this Aaron Glass had seen you in his
company, and would recognize you if he were watching the premises,
which was just what you both feared?"
"He didn't count on me to go," I admitted; "at least, not first
along."
"On whom, then?"
"On Captain Branscome, ma'am."
"Oh! Did he send you with that message to Captain Branscome?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then why didn't you tell us so? Well, when you took the message,
what did Captain Branscome say? And why didn't he go?"
"He was not at home, ma'am. Mr. Stimcoe had given us a holiday in
honour of the prisoners."
"I see. So Captain Branscome was off on an outing? When did he
return?"
"I didn't see him that evening, ma'am."
"That's not an answer to my question. I asked, When did he return?"
"Not until yesterday afternoon."
I had to think before giving this answer, so long a stretch of time
seemed to lie between me and yesterday afternoon.
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