“Well,” said Osborne quietly, “you’ll allow me to remark that you and your friends seem to have acted in a very honorable manner. That Clay should send me the case was, in a sense, characteristic of him; but I had no claim on you. If you won’t resent it, I should like to thank you for the line you have taken.”
“I haven’t finished my errand yet. You probably know that we salved a quantity of the gold, but you cannot have heard that we recovered and have accounted for every package that was insured.”
Osborne looked puzzled. He indicated the box on the table.
“No; we found a duplicate, containing gold of rather more than the declared weight, on which the underwriters have paid our salvage claim.”
Osborne started, and his face expressed blank astonishment.
“But it sounds impossible! I can’t understand—”
“It’s puzzling,” Jimmy agreed. “There’s obviously a mystery; but, after talking the thing over, my partners and I decided that we wouldn’t try to unravel it.”
“Perhaps you are wise. You are certainly considerate. But, still, I don’t see—Did you find the thing in the strong-room?”
“Not in the room. Clay showed me where to cut a hole in the roof. He crawled through and brought out the box. I imagine it was hidden among the deckbeams, but we hadn’t time to examine the place.”
“Ah!” exclaimed Osborne; for a light dawned on him as he remembered his partner’s determined attempt to break through the cabin floor on the night of the wreck. “Perhaps you are right. So the insurance people paid your claim and asked no questions. Did they seem satisfied?”
There was keen relief in Osborne’s face, and the slackness of his pose suggested the sudden relaxing of a heavy strain. He sat very still for a few moments and then got up.
“Mr. Farquhar,” he said, “you must guess the satisfaction with which I have heard your news. Indeed, I feel that I must think over it quietly. If you will excuse me for a while, Miss Dexter and my daughter will be glad to entertain you.”
“But I must get back as soon as possible,” Jimmy objected, feeling that to stay, as he longed to do, would be embarrassing both to himself and to his host.
“You can’t leave before to-morrow,” said Osborne, smiling. “There’s no night boat now, the launch is under repairs, and my car’s in town. I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with our hospitality.”