“Yes, sir,” answered Denny, writing busily.
“Three—‘They will not get Potts.’ That is as far as I’ve got at the moment, James—but every word of it stands. Not bad for a quarter of an hour, my trusty fellah—what?”
“That’s the stuff to give the troops, sir,” agreed his audience, sucking his teeth.
Hugh looked at him in displeasure. “That noise is not, James,” he remarked severely. “Now you’ve got to do something else. Rise and with your well-known stealth approach the window, and see if the watcher still watcheth without.”
The servant took a prolonged survey, and finally announced that he failed to see him.
“Then that proves conclusively that he’s there,” said Hugh. “Write it down, James: four—‘Owing to the watcher without, Potts cannot leave the house without being seen.’”
“That’s two withouts, sir,” ventured James tentatively; but Hugh, with a sudden light dawning in his eyes, was staring at the fireplace.
“I’ve got it, James,” he cried. “I’ve got it.... Five—‘Potts must leave the house without being seen.’ I want him, James, I want him all to myself. I want to make much of him and listen to his childish prattle. He shall go to my cottage on the river, and you shall look after him.”
“Yes, sir,” returned James dutifully.
“And in order to get him there, we must get rid of the watcher without. How can we get rid of the bird—how can we, James, I ask you? Why, by giving him nothing further to watch for. Once let him think that Potts is no longer within, unless he’s an imbecile he will no longer remain without.”