"Months!" cried Rushby in amazement. "You've not seen Baverstock--for months!"
He looked at me as if he thought that I was lying. I was at a loss to know what he was driving at, though I assured him that I spoke the truth.
"Months!" he repeated, holding his head between his hands, as if his puzzled brains were paining him. "But we were told, two days ago, that Amos held you prisoner."
"Who told you?" I demanded.
I was now as surprised as he, and even more astonished when I heard his answer.
"Baverstock himself," said Rushby.
"Amos!" I exclaimed. "You have seen him, then?"
"He lied to me!" cried Rushby, driving his clenched fist into the palm of a hand. "He lied to me! And Bannister was right."
"Bannister!" I echoed.
But Rushby, rocking his shoulders from side to side like a man who suffers anguish, stamped a foot upon the ground.