"I fancy not; something was said of their travelling about for pleasure."
"One more question," said Basil, "and I have done. There was an allusion to a pretty niece. Are you aware whether the young lady was travelling with her uncle?"
"I am not, and I do not remember what the allusion was. I think I have completely emptied my budget."
"I thank you sincerely; you have rendered me an inestimable service. I have no wish to have my affairs talked about, and you will add to the obligation if you will consider this conversation confidential."
"Certainly, my dear fellow, as you desire it. It is entirely between ourselves."
They parted shortly afterwards, and Basil, plunged in thought, returned to the township. The first step he took was to consult the file of the Princetown Argus for a record of the accident in which he had so nearly lost his life. He had heard that its earliest numbers contained accounts of his discovery and rescue, but he had not hitherto had the curiosity to hunt them up and read them. It was now imperative that he should make himself acquainted with every particular of the affair. He found without difficulty what he sought, and as he read through the reports of his condition which were published from day to day he dwelt upon portions which a year ago he would have considered monstrous inventions or exaggerations. Thus: "There is a certain element of mystery in the affair, and we shall briefly allude to one or two points which seem to have a bearing upon it." Again: "Inferring that there were two men working the shaft, is it possible, when the accident occurred, that the man at the top of the shaft made tracks from the place and left his mate to a cruel and lingering death?" The inference here sought to be established was not to be mistaken--to wit, that Newman Chaytor had purposely left him to a cruel and lingering death. And still more significant: "An opinion has been expressed that the rope has been tampered with, and that it did not break from natural wear and tear." Given that the peril into which he had been plunged was the result of design, there was more than a seeming confirmation of the opinion that the rope had been tampered with. Basil, being now engaged upon a full consideration of the circumstances, remembered that the rope to all appearance was perfectly sound. That being so, it was Chaytor's deliberate intention to murder him by weakening the strands. When suspicion enters the mind of a man who has trusted and been deceived, it is hard to dislodge it; small incidents and spoken words to which no importance was attached at the time they were uttered, present themselves and gather force until they assume a dark significance. When Basil laid aside the file of newspapers he had arrived at the conclusion that Chaytor had deliberately schemed for the fatal end which had been averted by the merest accident. Old Corrie's warnings and distrust of Chaytor came to his mind. "Corrie was right," thought Basil; "he read this man better than I did."
But clear as Chaytor's villainy had appeared to be, there was much that Basil was unable to comprehend. In what way had Chaytor discovered that Basil's uncle had repented of his determination to disinherit his nephew? How and by what means had it come to the villain's knowledge? Upon these and other matters Basil had yet to be enlightened.
He continued his mental search. Chaytor, returning to England, had succeeded in obtaining possession of his inheritance; and--what was of still greater weight to Basil--he had succeeded in introducing himself to Anthony Bidaud as the man he represented himself to be. "There was an allusion to a pretty niece." Then Chaytor was with Annette, playing Basil's part. Was it likely that Annette would be deceived. Years had passed since they had met, and the woman might have reason to doubt her childhood's memories. A cunning plausible villain this Newman Chaytor. Successful in imposing upon Annette, in wooing and perhaps winning her--Basil groaned at the thought--what a future was before her! There was a clear duty before him. To go to England with as little delay as possible, and unmask the plot.
That night he counted the money he had saved; it amounted to two hundred and thirty pounds. He could land in the old country with a hundred and fifty pounds. He consulted the exchange newspapers sent to the office. In seventeen days a steamer would start from Sydney for England. By that vessel he would take his departure.