“Oh, well, that is perhaps going too far, don’t you know. I must confess that I did not discover it at the time; but afterward, when the subject was brought to my attention——”
“You did see it, then, eh?”
“Yes, I really did, sir.”
“And were the ladies impressed by the same idea?” asked Nick, turning toward them. “I mean, of course, before it was suggested by Mr. Kane?”
“Oh, yes,” replied Mrs. Kane. “We both saw it, and spoke about it together before Max referred to it at all.”
“Did it strike you, also, Miss Harlan, before your sister spoke about it?”
“Yes, indeed. I saw it at once. That was why I took things so easy when I first came on deck. When I saw Captain Sparkle standing there beside Max, I thought he was the count. I suspected at that moment that the whole thing was an entertainment of some sort that he had gotten up for our benefit.”
“And you, Mrs. Kane?”
“You must remember that I came on deck with the count, so I could not possibly mistake the pirate for him; but it did occur to me, when I heard the man’s voice, that he might be a brother, or——”
“Who had taken that opportunity and that occasion to present himself to you, eh?”