"
She looked at me quickly.
"The patriarch--who do you mean?"
"An old gentleman with a white beard, tinted spectacles, and overcoat
somewhat the worse for wear. He hailed me on the road yesterday and asked
for a match. I imagine he must live somewhere near the doctor's house."
She looked very thoughtful for a moment and then said:
"There is no one in the island with tinted spectacles, and nobody in the
least like that living anywhere near Dr. Rendall's."
I looked at her sharply.
"Are you quite sure?"
She seemed to think again for a moment and then said:
"Perfectly."
I had something to think about on my way home to lunch.
IX
AN ALLY
After lunch I set out by myself with pretty high hopes. It seemed to me
inconceivable that men (or even one man for the sake of argument, though
I felt sure there must be more), who were lurking here on the business
this gang were engaged upon, would actually take no steps one way or the
other to deal with a stranger who knew of their existence, and who to all
seeming was one of their own kidney. I flattered myself by this time that
every report they could have heard and every observation they might have
made must incline them to the view that it was their duty to get in touch
with me again. And now I proposed to take a solitary ramble along the
very shore where I had stumbled upon my oil-skinned friend, and give them
a chance of getting in touch.
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