gan to doubt whether he was ever going to
speak at all, he began to ask some guarded and chary questions as to how
Pinney had happened to find him. Pinney had no unwillingness to tell,
and now he gave him the letter of Pere Etienne, with a eulogy of the
priest's regard for Northwick's interest and safety. He told him how
Markham's talk had caught his attention, and Northwick tacitly
recognized the speculator. But when Pinney explained that it was the
postmark on his letter to the _Events_ that gave him the notion of going
to Rimouski, he could see that Northwick was curious to know the effect
of that letter with the public. At first he thought he would let him
ask; but he perceived that this would be impossible for Northwick, and
he decided to say, "That letter was a great sensation, Mr. Northwick."
The satisfaction that lighted up Northwick's eyes caused Pinney to add,
"I guess it set a good many people thinking about you in a different
way. It showed that there was something to be said on both sides, and I
believe it made friends for you, sir. Yes, sir." Pinney had never
believed this till the moment he spoke, but then it seemed so probable
he had that he easily affirmed it. "I don't believe, Mr. Northwick," he
went on, "but what this trouble could be patched up, somehow, so that
you could come back, if you wanted to, give 'em time to think it over a
little."

As soon as he said this, the poison of that ulterior purpose which his
wife had forbidden him, began to work in Pinney's soul. He could not
help feeling what a grand thing it would be if he could go back with
Northwick in his train, and deliver him over, a captive of moral
suasion, to his country's courts. Whatever the result was, whether the
conviction or the acquittal of Northwick, the process would be the
making of Pinney. It would carry him to such a height in the esteem of
those who knew him, that he could choose either career, and whether as a
reporter or a detective, it would give his future the distinction of one
of the most brilliant pieces of work in both sorts. Pinney tried his
best to counteract the influence of these ideas by remembering his
promises to his wife; but it was difficult to recall his promises with
accuracy in his wife's absence; and he probably owed his safety in this
matter more to Northwick's temperament than to any virtue of his own.

"I think I understand how that would be," said the defaulter coldly; and
he began very cautiously