Chapter Fourteen.
Reveals a Clever Conspiracy.
“And who was he?” asked Adams, quickly.
“For the present that is my own affair,” the hunchback replied. “Suffice it for you to know that we hold Samuel Statham in the hollow of our hand.”
“I don’t know so much about that,” remarked Adams, dubiously. “I thought so until this morning.”
“And why, pray, has your opinion changed?”
“Because when he came a second time to the window and looked out at me, there was a glance of defiance in his eye that I scarcely lie. He’s wealthy and influential—we are not, remember.”
“Knowledge is power. We shall be the victors.”
“You are too sanguine, my dear fellow,” declared the other. “We are angling for big game, and to my idea the bait is not sufficiently attractive.”
“Statham is unscrupulous—so are we. We can prove our story—prove it up to the hilt. Dare he face us? That’s the question.”