“Yes,” replied Leonard, after some deliberation. “This Snags, of whom I told you, will probably take alarm at my flight and get out of the way. Besides, as I further mentioned, he and Roake are probably the tools of others whom they would not betray. So it is desirable to do something more than merely arrest them, and seize the smuggled goods—even if the former could be accomplished.”
“Go on,” said Mr. Stark, as Leonard paused.
“This deaf and dumb fellow who attends to the boats at Rocky Beach is evidently in the employ of the villains, and he is a poor ignorant devil. My idea is that they have got possession of him in some way, and impressed him with the belief that he is in a sense their property. He has a hang-dog look, like one without ambition, or at least without the knowledge that there is any possibility of changing his condition. Yet there is a discontented expression about his face, and he has a bright eye, and not a bad head.”
“Yes,” said Mr. Stark, as Leonard again paused.
“Well,” resumed Leonard, “if we could get possession of him, and cheer him up, and make him believe he issomebody, perhaps he could impart some valuable information. He must be possessed of some. And there would be no use in pumping him where he is, for I believe he stands in a sort of terror of his masters.”
“Can he talk in any way, either by the dumb signs or by writing?”
“That I don’t know.”
“The experiment may be worth trying. We will consider it. And now I have something to propose. Has your cousin plenty of nerve?”
“Yes,” replied Leonard, smiling, “when he is set on in the right way.”
“What can he do?”