"Not since the war," I replied; "but you will probably see something of me in future." I took a drink and set down the tumbler. "I am the new owner of Greensea Island," I added.
He looked at me with sudden curiosity. "Well I never! Is that so, sir? Why, only yesterday somebody was saying that a nephew of Mr. Jannaway's had come into the whole property."
"That's right," I said. "Mr. Jannaway was my uncle."
He received the information in silence, but I thought I could detect a faint change of expression in his face.
"Did you know him?" I asked, striking a match to light my pipe.
"No, sir, I can't say that I did. No one didn't know Mr. Jannaway, not in a manner o' speaking. I don't believe he ever come ashore, not the whole time he was on the island."
"Perhaps you have met his man—Bascomb?"
He nodded, but without any apparent enthusiasm. "He's been in here a few times, sir."
Another customer appeared in the doorway, and with a murmured word of apology he moved away to attend to his wants.
Ross sat back and surveyed me with a mischievous grin. "We don't seem to be in luck," he remarked. "Ask him if he's friendly with the dog."