Despite the man’s evident anger, it seemed as though he meant this; as an adept in trickery himself, he was forced to admiration at Ethan’s apparent excellence in this line.
“But tell me,” he went on, bending over them, “how did you know that Fochard was concerned in this matter? and how did you learn that I was to visit him upon the night you and this man,” indicating Longsword, “impersonated Wheelock and myself?”
Ethan smiled, but shook his head. It was plain that the man was mystified, and, of course the lad had no desire to enlighten him.
“That,” he replied, “is a secret.”
Danvers bent his brows still more, and his lips tightened.
“A secret—yes, I suppose it is. And you thought to have the later developments a secret, too, didn’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean with regard to the man Siki.”
“This,” said Ethan in a puzzled way, “is the second time within a very few minutes that you have hinted a mysterious something about this slippery Lascar. But I don’t just grasp your meaning.”
“You may evade the fact as you please,” said Danvers, “but it remains the same. I’ll tell you what I have found out. When you discovered who had the dispatch that night in your visit to the secret agent, Fochard, you conceived the idea which you and your friend, Captain Jones, have so admirably carried out.”