"He had not that reputation at Dartmoor. He was quiet and inoffensive, about the last man we'd have thought would try to escape," he said.
"And you have no doubt he is Hector Woodridge?"
"No, I don't think there's much doubt about that; in fact none at all. It is improbable he will meet you again. Even if he has got away he'll go out of the country into some safe hiding-place; he's not likely to roam about England," he said.
She thanked him, asked him to accept a sovereign, which he did not refuse.
Carl Hackler watched her as she walked away; she looked stately, carried herself well, what he called a "stunner."
Carl wondered why she was so anxious to find out who the escaped prisoner was. She must have some personal interest in him; she did not seem like a woman who wasted her time over trifles. He determined to see Brack and hear what he had to say about the lady. He had a good deal of regard for Brack, also a shrewd idea that in some way or another the boatman had the better of him.
Brack was nothing loath to chat when Carl came up.
"All the ladies seem fond of you, Brack," he said.
"Yes, I don't say as they're not; I often has ladies in my boat," he said.
"Rather a smart woman you took out to-day."