“What, then?”
“I want to get hold of that message.”
“You wish to know what it is?”
“I know now.”
“Hey? Then why do you wish to get hold of it? Why the dickens have you put yourself to so much trouble?”
“Because I do not wish it to reach the hands of Merriwell.”
“The bearer——”
“Hasn’t the least idea what the message is.”
“Oh-ho!”
“He is simply a messenger—nothing more. He has been instructed to deliver an oilskin envelope to Merriwell. He knows absolutely nothing of the contents of that envelope. If he were to lose it, he would fail utterly in his task.”