"Better wait four than fail," said Hunston.
"Cold-blooded Englishman, what know you of the furious rate at which my blood boils in my veins? In that house is the man who struck me to the earth."
"Wait two hours, then you may have a good chance of paying off the score."
"And I will, too, with greater interest than even usurer charged his hapless client. I wonder which room the cursed Americano sleeps in."
"The third room on the right-hand side of the first corridor, where you ascend the great staircase."
Captain Mathias said this as promptly and positively as though he himself had shown our friends to bed.
After a pause he continued—
"Mr. and Mrs. Harkaway have the first room; Mr. and Mrs. Harvey the second; the third is a double-bedded apartment, one couch being occupied by the American, the other by the two boys."
"You seem to have pretty exact information, captain," said Hunston.
"Yes, there is little going on there that does not come to my ears. One of the porters is a spy in my employ."