“But I do. Without me, Stogumber, you won’t find the treasure, or lay your hands on the man who stole it—and I fancy you wish to do that. Of course, if I’m mistaken, and you’re content to recover the currency, I’ll tell Jerry to disclose his information to you with no more ado. But if you want the thief as well, then you must leave it to me to bring you to him.”
“Ho! And p’raps, Capting Staple, sir, I know already who stole it!”
“I should think, undoubtedly you must have at least a strong suspicion,” agreed John. “And I am quite certain that you have no proof, and no possibility of finding proof, unless I take a hand. Would you consider it proof enough if you found the thief and the treasure together?”
“I don’t ask no more!” said Stogumber, fixedly regarding him.
“Then nurse that shoulder of yours until you hear from me again,” said John. “Let it be known that you are a great deal weaker than you are, and in no case to stir out of doors. It would be an excellent notion if you were to put your arm in a sling. You have been recognized: if you are thought to have been too badly hurt to be dangerous, my task will be the easier. I believe I may be able to deliver your man into your hands, but you must let me go to work in my own way. I shan’t keep you waiting for long, I hope.”
There was a long silence, while Stogumber wrestled with himself in thought. Suddenly he said: “Capting Staple, to cut no wheedle, there’s two men as I’m after, not one!”
“That is why I didn’t, at the outset, tell you that I’d bubbled your lay,” responded John coolly. “In the position I’m in, the suspicion that you were also after Henry Stornaway made it damned awkward for me! Since then, however, I’ve been able to satisfy myself that you’re wrong in thinking he has been anything more than a foolish catspaw in the business.”
“I daresay you have, but you ain’t satisfied me!” said Stogumber. “I’ll tell you to your head, sir, it weren’t Coate as led me to this place, but Stornaway!”
There was nothing in John’s face to betray how very unwelcome this piece of information was to him. Bent on discovering the extent of Stogumber’s knowledge, he shrugged, and said: “Because the silly goosecap made friends with a rogue?”
“No, sir, because he made friends with a certain party as works in the Treasury, which I ain’t going to name, because he’s an honest cove, even if he is a gabster, and got to mentioning things he shouldn’t ought to have breathed to no one! It was Stornaway which knew when that consignment was to be sent off to Manchester; and the reason young—the other party—talked of it was that it weren’t an ordinary consignment, not by any manner of means it weren’t! That currency, Capting, ain’t been seen yet, because it’s the new gold money, which makes it interesting. Ah, and dangerous!”