"I don't. As a matter of fact, I don't want to, though it's possible that I could find out. The trouble is that if I made inquiries it might set other people—Nevis, for instance—on his trail."
"Yes," assented Hunter, "there's a good deal in that. On the whole, it might be wiser if you kept carefully clear of the thing, particularly if Corporal Slaney feels inclined to move any further in the matter. Well, as I've a long drive before me I must be getting on."
He turned away toward the stables and Thorne grinned cheerfully. He had a respect for the astuteness of this quiet, steady-eyed farmer, and he was disposed to fancy that Nevis would share it before the struggle which he forecasted was over. What was more, he was quite ready to act in any way as Hunter's ally, and he believed that between them they could give the plotter something to think about.
It was getting dark when Hunter reached home and found his wife waiting for him in the general living room. She was evidently a little out of temper.
"You are very late," she said. "I suppose you have been to one of those creamery meetings again?"
Hunter sat down where the lamplight fell upon his face, and there was a trace of weariness in it.
"Yes," he answered; "I had to go. On the whole, I'm glad I did."
"A crisis of some kind? You haven't been increasing your interest in the scheme?"
"No," replied Hunter with a smile; "not in money, anyway. You will, no doubt, be pleased to hear it."
"I am," retorted Florence. "If you had been ready to give those people anything they asked for it wouldn't have been flattering. You're not remarkably generous where I'm concerned."