Sanderson. That third party is the crux of the
situation. I strongly suspect him of blackmail. If you would but name
him, and allow me to lure him to these rooms, I possess a little
private prison of my own into which I could thrust him, and I venture
to say that before he had passed a week in darkness, on bread and
water, we should have the truth about this business.'
Look you now the illogical nature of an Englishman! Poor old
Sanderson, who had come to me with a proposal to break the law of
America, seemed horror-stricken when I airily suggested the immuring
of a man in a dungeon here in England. He gazed at me in amazement,
then cast his eyes furtively about him, as if afraid a trap door would
drop beneath him, and land him in my private _oubliette_.
'Do not be alarmed, Mr. Sanderson, you are perfectly safe. You are
beginning at the wrong end of this business, and it seems to me five
years of contributions to this third party without any result might
have opened the eyes of even the most influential nobleman in England,
not to mention those of his faithful servant.'
'Indeed, sir,' said Sanderson, 'I must confess to you that I have long
had a suspicion of this third person, but my master has clung to him
as his only hope, and if this third person were interfered with, I may
tell you that he has deposited in London at some place unknown to us,
a full history of the case, and if it should happen that he disappears
for more than a week at a time, this record will be brought to light.
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