The other looked at him and laughed.
"You are visiting at the—Hedgely Hall, are you?" he asked.
Parkington nodded.
"And there is an eligible daughter?"
Another nod.
"I think I comprehend. And you saw and recognized me, while the master of the house was arranging the terms of a ransom. By the Lord! I wonder what became of the gold?—you might take it, yourself, if it has not been picked up. It must be at the landing, somewhere."
"The ransom was found by Captain Jamison, and returned to Marbury," Parkington explained.
"Well, it is a pity. It would have come handy, I reckon. But, if you get the girl, you will get the money, too. Tell me, did you have this scheme in mind, when you left England?—No—and has your change of name anything to do with it?"
"Damn the change of name!" said Parkington. "It complicates everything, and I do not know how to get rid of it."
"Parkington?—Parkington?—Was not he a friend of Baltimore—one of his women chasers?"