I agreed heartily. And the time came when the memory of that foolish chatter just about saved my reason.
[CHAPTER XI]
THE SIMMERING SAMOVAR
One day it occurred to me to ask Fellows if he was keeping up my advertisement for Mary Doherty, from which I had heard nothing so far. His start and confusion were an obvious confession.
"N-no, not now. I did run it several times."
"I told you to keep it in until further orders. Don't you remember?"
He did not answer. I could not understand his manner.
"I am sorry if you didn't understand. We have probably lost an opportunity,--certainly have lost time. I count on getting important information from Mrs. Barker, if we can find her."
"What sort of information?" asked Fellows doggedly. I thought he was trying to minimize the results of his neglect.
"Well, almost any information that would enable us to fix Barker's associates would probably be valuable. More particularly, I want to find out whether there is anyone who wants to marry her and couldn't while Barker was alive."