“It may be the last thing I can do for you. Once on shore I shall be all right—but I may not get on shore.”
“What?” I cried.
“You see, I’m afraid you’re not the only person on board who knows that I am ‘The Man in the Brown Suit.’”
“If you think that I told——” I said hotly.
He reassured me with a smile.
“I don’t doubt you, Miss Beddingfeld. If I ever said I did, I lied. No, but there’s one person on board who’s known all along. He’s only got to speak—and my number’s up. All the same, I’m taking a sporting chance that he won’t speak.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s a man who likes playing a lone hand. And when the police have got me I should be of no further use to him. Free, I might be! Well, an hour will show.”
He laughed rather mockingly, but I saw his face harden. If he had gambled with Fate, he was a good gambler. He could lose and smile.
“In any case,” he said lightly, “I don’t suppose we shall meet again.”