Maddox shook his head.
“Then I am going to tell you something about him; something that you must never repeat.
“Theodore Galvin had dealings with certain men — I have no knowledge of their identity — who were dangerous!”
Bob Maddox raised his eyebrows in well-feigned surprise.
“FOR some reason your uncle feared those men. Perhaps — I say this impartially, reviewing the hints that your uncle made privately — his own affairs were a trifle — er — unusual. Perhaps he had definite reasons for going so far away as Paraguay.
“But of one thing I am certain. Your uncle desired to protect something which he possessed — namely, wealth.”
“His estate is quite small,” declared Bob.
“That is on the surface,” declared Zachary Mitchell. “I speak now of hidden wealth.”
Bob Maddox kept control of himself. Only a gleam in his eye betrayed his restrained interest.
“The fact that you have come to me,” said Mitchell, “is proof in itself that you are following instructions from your uncle.