He nodded. "About time you went fortune-hunting!" he said.
No other word passed between them until they reached the railway station. They descended from the car, and watched it almost immediately swing round and disappear.
"So this is the end of our little excursion to Rakney," Ruby remarked.
"Yes!" Hefferom answered. "Aren't you satisfied?"
"Why should I be?" she asked. "What have we gained?"
Hefferom drew a long breath. "Ah, I forgot!" he said. "You don't understand."
He drew her into the refreshment room. She declined to drink, but she sat in a corner while he disposed of several whiskies and sodas. At first he would say nothing, and she waited. Presently he began.
"You think," he said, "that I was a coward, because when Deane bundled us off in his car and told the man to drive us to the nearest railway station, I did not protest. You think that I should have made a scene there? It wasn't worth while. Deane's coming gave the whole game away. Don't you really understand?"
"Not a word," she answered.
"Listen, then. Stirling Deane is the man who is supposed to be the owner of the Little Anna Gold-Mine, which was really your Uncle Sinclair's."