It was in the middle of this performance that a strange thing occurred. Happening to look in the direction of Jessica’s box, now temporarily deserted, Preston noticed two men in it. One he quickly recognized by his costume to be Levi Schomberg; the other....
“George,” he said, turning to Blenkiron, “that thin man bending over Levi Schomberg—the fellow dressed as a troubadour we decided must be Schomberg, didn’t we?—is that La Planta, do you think?”
Blenkiron looked in the direction indicated.
“Hopford declared him to be La Planta,” he said.
“Well, what is he doing—I mean Schomberg, the man sitting down?”
Blenkiron watched him for some moments.
“He’s drunk, I should say,” he answered.
“Drunk! Not a bit of it. Look at his attitude.”
“It certainly is queer. Ah, La Planta has left him now. He is going out of the box. I can see Jessica outside waiting for him.”
As Blenkiron stopped speaking, the man whom they believed to be La Planta, accompanied now by the mottled snake, walked quickly into the corridor behind the boxes, and were lost to sight.