"What then?"
"He was bamboozling her, twisting her round his finger, as one might say. He had got up a casual chat, persuading her that he was a private friend of yours, so he pumped and pumped her about the boys, where they went, and so forth."
"And did she say any thing that could serve him in his vile purpose?" asked Mrs. Harkaway.
"Plenty to help them, the miscreants, I suppose."
"The girl must be a downright idiot to get into conversation with a strange man after all that has taken place, and after all the danger which she knows they ran."
"Not far short of it," said Jefferson.
"He spoke particularly about the boys not venturing out to the mountains, that they were permitted only to sail about in their boat, and—"
Harkaway broke in here with an exclamation that startled them all.
"That explains all," he said. "All, all, I see it now."
"Do you? Explain."