I wish it were, then we would have no
trouble.'
'Oh, thank you!'
'You see, it is like this: When we were in Quebec--I think I told you
about that--the _New York Argus_ sent a man to find out what we had
reported, or were going to report, to the London Syndicate.'
'Yes, you told me that.'
'Rivers was his name. Well, this same paper, finding that Rivers had
failed after having stolen the documents, has tried a much more subtle
scheme, which promises to be successful. They have put on board this ship
a young woman who has gained a reputation for learning secrets not
intended for the public. This young woman is Miss Brewster, who sits next
Wentworth at the table. Fate seems to have played right into her hand
and placed her beside him. They became acquainted, and, unfortunately, my
friend has told her a great deal about the mines, which she professed an
interest in. Or, rather, she pretended to have an interest in him, and so
he spoke, being, of course, off his guard. There is no more careful
fellow in the world than George Wentworth, but a man does not expect that
a private conversation with a lady will ever appear in a newspaper.'
'Naturally not.'
'Very well, that is the state of things. In some manner Wentworth came to
know that this young woman was the special correspondent of the _New York
Argus_. He spoke to her about it, and she is perfectly frank in saying
she is here solely for the purpose of finding out what the reports will
be, and that the moment she gets to Queenstown she will cable what she
has discovered to New York.
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