“Would it be safe to go in?” Jake asked.
“I think so,” his companion answered, smiling.
Jake presently followed him into a small, dimly lighted room, and noted that the landlord came to wait on them with obsequious attention. Two peons were drinking in a corner, but they went out when the landlord made a sign. Jake thought this curious, but Don Sebastian filled his glass and gave him a cigarette.
“Now,” he said, “we have the place to ourselves and you can tell your story.”
Jake related how a stranger had stolen into their shack a few days ago, and Don Sebastian listened attentively.
“You do not think it was one of the peons employed at the dam?” he suggested.
“No,” said Jake. “Anyhow, Payne seemed satisfied it wasn’t.”
“He would probably know them better than you. Do you keep money in the house?”
“Very little. We lock up the money for wages in the pay-office safe. Anyhow, I’m not sure the fellow came to steal.”
“If he did so, one would not imagine that he would be satisfied with blotting-paper,” Don Sebastian agreed. “You said there was some coffee on the table.”