"Well, I—I—"
"Come, out with it! If you had any reason for playing the spy, let's hear what it was."
"I didn't play the spy. I didn't think o' bein' mean that way, but when I heard Rhymin' Joe tell you 'at I wasn't Robert Burnham's son, I was so s'prised, an' scart-like 'at I couldn't speak."
This was a little more than Sharpman wanted, but he kept on:—
"How long were you under the control of this spirit of muteness?"
"Sir?"
"How long was it before the power to speak returned to you?"
"Oh! not till Rhymin' Joe went out, I guess. I felt so bad I didn't want to speak to anybody."
"Did you see this person whom you call Rhyming Joe?"
"Only in the dark."