“You were a friend of Matt Holmes, were you not?” he asked.
“He had no better friend. I had known him for twenty years.”
“Did you know all his secrets?” The question was eagerly asked.
“Maybe I did and maybe I didn’t.”
As he spoke, the king of scouts was feeling about his person for a match with which to relight his pipe.
“I’ll come down to cases. Did he tell you when you met him last night that he was looking for the coming of an enemy?”
“Yes.”
The masked man started slightly.
“What did he say about me?”
The questioner leaned forward, the eyes behind the mask winking rapidly.