The stranger shuddered, and turned away his head.
"That is sufficient answer for me," Jack said. "I dare say you have noticed those strange Nostalgo posters. Did it ever occur to you that Anstruther is not unlike those pictures?"
The effect of the question was extraordinary. The stranger looked at Jack with eyes filled with terror.
"Strange, very strange," he muttered hoarsely. "You have hit it exactly. May I ask, have you ever been in Mexico?"
"No," Jack replied; "but I know a man who has. Did you ever meet an individual out there called Seymour?"
[CHAPTER XXXII.]
LADY BARMOUTH'S JEWELS.
Jack had merely drawn a bow at a venture, but the shaft went home to the feather. By instinct he seemed to divine the fact that the stranger who knew so much of Anstruther's inner life might also know as much as the man called Nostalgo, otherwise Seymour. This instinct did not play Jack false, for he saw his companion stagger back as if he had been shot. He fell into a chair, and plucked feebly at the arms of it with his fingers.
"You are on dangerous ground indeed," he said hoarsely. "Have you a wife depending on you, or one you love? If so, turn your back upon me at once, and never see my face again."
It was a warning deep, thrilling, and impressive. But Jack merely shook his head and smiled. He had no intention of turning back now.