Another passenger now came along the pathway by the side of the river. He, like the first gentleman, was full of the robbery, and it was perhaps needless to say that he gave another version of the affair.
His theory was, that somebody was concealed in the warehouse for the whole of the day, and when it was closed and the porter and his wife were fast asleep, he crept forth from his hiding-place and let in a band of men, who ransacked the place and made off with a large amount of property.
He also stated that the porter and his wife had been drugged.
People are so remarkably fond of dealing with the wild and wonderful.
“It’s a very sad and bad business,” remarked Peace, “whichever way it was done; and it is to be hoped that justice will overtake the scoundrels.”
His fellow-fisherman coincided with him in the opinion he had expressed, and looked upon him as a man whose highly moral principle made him indignant with the miscreants who had been guilty of so lawless an act.
He was not known, or rather recognised, at Nottingham, and none for a moment suspected that the highly moral and sensitive gentleman was the real culprit.
Peace laughed in his sleeve. The amusement it afforded him was, of course, known only to himself.
He amused himself with his brother anglers for the whole of that day, and when evening set in he repaired to the public-house called the “Seven Stars,” and made himself very agreeable to the frequenters of the parlour.
He had, before giving over for the day, agreed to meet some of his brother anglers at the same spot for another day’s sport, and he was again to be seen in his boat as heretofore.