“But have you any suspicion as to who’s at the bottom of it?” Bob asked.
“Not a glimmer,” Mr. Stokes declared. “Of course someone is at the bottom of it, as you say, and I think I know why even if I do not know who.
“Why, then?”
“What would you consider the most likely reason? I’d like to see if your idea agrees with mine.”
“Well, I should say that someone wants to get hold of the place cheap and thinks that he’s taking a good way to do it.”
“My idea exactly. I hardly think there can be much doubt about it as I have no enemy in that part of the world who might be trying to injure me.”
“How about the man who’s running it? Jacques, I believe you said his name is,” Jack asked.
“Yes, Jacques Bolduc. Of course, I’ve considered him, but I’m pretty sure he’s not guilty. In the first place he’s run it for several years and has always been perfectly honest so the man who sold it to me assured me. And then, when I bought it, I offered to let him have a half interest in it and pay for it out of the profits.”
“And he turned down an offer like that?” Bob asked.
“Yes. He thanked me very prettily, but said he’d always worked for wages and would rather keep on that way. I thought it rather strange but you know those fellows well enough to understand that there’s no accounting for the way their minds run.”