"I can't be positive on the point, but am inclined to think he is a Russian. He looked like one, all right."
A Russian! Nick recalled his experiences with the Russian thugs of San Francisco, and wondered if by any possibility this man of whom Hayman had spoken could have been one of the number. Dorrant, the leader, was dead, and so were Sergius and Nicholas Wykoff. There remained only Dimitri Goloff, whose connection with the band had been slight, and who had evinced a desire to lead an honest life. Had he suffered a relapse? Hayman's description fitted him as far as externals went. But did he not possess some peculiarly distinguishing characteristic? Yes, he did—in his voice. "Hayman," said Nick quickly, "what kind of a voice did this foreigner have? Was it light, or heavy; harsh, or clear?"
"It was heavy and harsh, like a fog-horn."
Goloff it was, then. Nick felt his pulse quicken. How lucky it was that he had overheard Hayman's remark at the inquisitorial hearing! "Yes," he said, in answer to the question that looked out of the railway man's eyes, "I know the man, and now if only you could give me a description of the other man it would make my work much easier. But, of course, you can't, so I will have to go ahead on the presumption that he is the man I most desire to meet."
Hayman smiled reassuringly. "I think I can help you out, Nick. True, I did not see the cuss, but another man did."
Nick's face brightened instantly.
"The next morning," said the railway man, "I asked Harrington, the wiper, who had laid off the fore part of the night, on account of not feeling well, if he had seen, before he went home, any persons hanging about the shops of the yard.
"'Yes, sir,' said he, 'I saw two men in front of the roundhouse when I came out at eleven o'clock.' Asked to describe them, he said that both were tall. One looked like a foreigner. The other, though dark-faced, was an American. He wore a black mustache, and his hat was a derby."
Nick expressed his satisfaction. "That settles it," he said. "Hayman, I am greatly obliged to you."