"By Jove! I begin to think I do see a glimmering of reason in it after all. But it's a strange enough affair, if you like. Now first tell me what sort of man this dwarf is, who proved himself your friend by lending you the money to buy the schooner, and your enemy, by misrepresenting your connection with that nigger."
"Well, among other things, he was an Albino."
"An Albino and a dwarf? Great snakes! What was his name?"
So taken aback was I by his excitement, that for the instant I could only stare at him. He seemed more affected by my story than if he had undergone it all himself.
"Quickly," he said, "what is the name of this dwarf, this Albino?"
"John Macklin," I answered promptly, and when he heard it he began to pace the room, like a man labouring under some extraordinary emotion.
For a few minutes he occupied himself in this fashion. Then, in the middle of one of his peregrinations, he stopped short, and asked me another question.
"And the woman, what was she like? Was she tall and dark, foreign in appearance, with a suspicion of a moustache, and a little mole on the lobe of her left ear?"
I nodded, wonderstruck. He smiled a pitying sort of smile.
"Well, all things considered, I reckon this bit of business fairly licks creation."
"Anybody would think you knew these people," I remarked, chock-full of astonishment.
"Know them? Well, if I haven't cause enough to know them, there's not a man knocking round this old universe who has! But their cheek beats cock-fighting. Mark my words, it'll be diamond cut diamond between them now."
"You're getting out of my depth. What the deuce do you mean?"
"Never you mind just now. Tell me one thing more. When the Albino found the money for you to purchase the schooner, did he say that he knew Juanita?"
"I should think not. On the other hand, he sternly forbade my even letting her know of his existence."
"Ah! that throws another light upon affairs. They were playing lone hands after all. He's just 'Old Nick' himself, is John Macklin, and she's pretty near as bad. Now, when you left Thursday Island, am I right in surmising that you steered a straight course for the Banks Group?"
"I don't know how you guessed it, but we did."
"And you brought up off Vanua Lava, maybe?"