“Yes.”
“Do the people who buy the plots think the swamp won’t hurt?” threw in Chick, as he finished his breakfast.
“They don’t see the swamp,” replied Captain Brown.
“How do they buy, then?”
“From a map. Ha, ha, ha! Swamps don’t show on maps—unless you want them to. You ought to know that.”
“I do know it,” replied Chick. “But I didn’t suppose they could put over such a bluff as that. It isn’t Howard Milmarsh who does it, is it?”
Nick listened with some show of interest for Captain Brown’s reply to this.
“I don’t know who is at the back of the Paradise City project,” he answered more seriously. “I suppose Howard Milmarsh must sanction it, or it wouldn’t be going on. But the fellows engineering the game are Louden Powers and Andrew Lampton.”
It was apparent to Nick Carter that Captain Brown could have told more about the business if he had chosen to do so. But he was manager of the Old Pike Inn, and it was his policy not to say anything about anybody which might rebound and hurt his trade. He was an innkeeper first of all, and he never forgot his own interests.
“Well, captain, you will be careful not to let anybody know who we are, of course?” adjured the detective. “We shall go and see the swamp during the day, and to-night there will be something else we shall have to attend to. Secrecy is important, but I was sure we could depend on you.”