'You are acting for someone else, I suppose?' he said.
'Yes.'
'For someone in England?'
'Yes.'
'He put up the money, did he?'
'Yes.'
There was a pause, during which we took two or three turns in silence.
'Of course, there's no secret about it,' he said at last. 'I expected
help from the other side, but Colonel Jim has been so mighty long
about it, I was afraid he'd forgotten me.'
'Who is Colonel Jim?'
'Colonel Jim Baxter. Wasn't it him gave you the money?'
'I never heard of the man before.'
'Then who put up the coin?'
'Douglas Sanderson,' I replied, looking at him sidewise as I mentioned
the name. It had apparently no effect upon him. He wrinkled his brow
for a moment, then said:--
'Well, if you never heard of Baxter, I never heard of Sanderson.'
This led me to suspect that Douglas Sanderson did not give me his own
name, and doubtless the address with which he had furnished me was
merely temporary. I did not cable to him from America regarding the
success of the expedition, because I could not be certain it was a
success until I was safely on English ground, and not even then, to
tell the truth. Anyhow, I wished to leave no trail behind me, but the
moment the _Arontic_ reached Liverpool, I telegraphed Sanderson to
meet us that evening at my flat.
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