"Why?" I asked.
"Because you are you. Do you think I did not estimate the kind of man I am speaking to before I said what I have said? But I am sorry. I must be going now."
He put on his heavy ulster as he spoke, buttoned it closely round his throat, and pulled his broad-brimmed hat over his forehead.
"If you discover anything," he said,—"I am saying this as an off chance, ay, a chance in a million,—leave this place as soon as you have discovered it, and send a telegram to me."
"Where?" I asked.
"Send it to John Adams, Chigwheal Post Office."
"And you will tell me nothing more than that?"
"I came here to warn, not to inform."
As he spoke I heard a sound outside, something like the cry of a sea-bird; it was a human voice.
"Good-night," he said, holding out his hand. "I am truly sorry, but I have done my best."