“I told you yesterday that I have been careful to keep it from her—for her own sake. She has not the slightest idea where I kept those papers.”
“What is the name of the boy who does odd jobs about your house—and sleeps away?” asked Nick, with seeming irrelevance.
“Swagara.”
“Curious name. What countryman is he?”
“Japanese.”
Nick Carter started and looked hard at the professor. Then he smiled grimly, as he asked:
“Where did the boy come from? How did you get him?”
“An employment agency in New York. He had been a valet for a theatrical man before he came to me. But he didn’t like traveling, and he was willing to do the menial work I require rather than go on the road again. He wanted to stay in New York, so that he could study more conveniently. He is a bright chap, and he speaks German and French, as well as English and his own native tongue.”
“He brought good references, I suppose?”
“Unimpeachable,” was Bentham’s prompt reply. “He has been in this country three years, and there are many persons in Brooklyn who knew him before he went with the theatrical man, Goddard. They all speak well of Swagara. He attended a college there, studying languages, and everybody says he was marvelously quick.”