“I told the chief the best thing to do was to go home and go to bed. He won't find that man to-night. I doubt if he ever finds him. And what's more, I am going myself to take the advice I gave.”
He started for the hall, and as Ranville rose, I followed his example. We locked the door and went rather wearily up the stairs. Ranville yawned a good night at our door, and a moment later I was in my bed. It had not only been an exciting night, but also a very perplexing one. For a while I tried to puzzle out the happenings of the evening. Then realizing how tired I was, I turned over and went to sleep.
It was the sun streaming through the open window which awakened me the next morning. For a while I lay thinking over the events of the night before. Then the sound of people in the room below came faintly to my ears. Rising, I took a quick shower and went down to the dining room. To my surprise, the first person I saw when I reached the door was Carter. Across the table from Bartley he was laughing at something that had been said.
He greeted me with a slap on the back, and then introduced the young man by his side—a heavy-set young man, with darkish hair, whose smile was very pleasing as he rose to answer to the name of Niles Patton. As I slipped into my seat at the breakfast table, Carter informed me he had come up on the night train, and that he had been lucky in finding that Patton was on the same train.
For a while the conversation played around many topics—a conversation in which Patton took an active part. He seemed a very likable sort of man, boyish in both looks and mannerisms. He told us that he judged it would not take him so very long to go over Warren's notes, and then began to tell us stories regarding their experience in China. Long before he had finished we had adjourned to the veranda.
When there came a lull in the conversation Ranville turned to Carter and drawled:
“Did you know that the house was broken into last night?”
Carter gave him an amazed look, and in a few words he was informed of what had taken place. Then Ranville went on to tell him of our discovery of a box of opium in Warren's library—a statement which caused Patton to give a sudden start of surprise. With a laugh the Englishman went on to tell of the story the Chinaman had told us regarding these boxes which he claimed were given to Warren.
“Did you know anything of six boxes which were given to Warren just before you sailed to America?” was the question Bartley asked Patton.
The young man turned in his chair and nodded.