"
"I don't think that you have any cause to be uneasy, Mrs.
Hudson," I answered. "I have seen him like this before. He has
some small matter upon his mind which makes him restless." I
tried to speak lightly to our worthy landlady, but I was myself
somewhat uneasy when through the long night I still from time to
time heard the dull sound of his tread, and knew how his keen
spirit was chafing against this involuntary inaction.
At breakfast-time he looked worn and haggard, with a little fleck
of feverish color upon either cheek.
"You are knocking yourself up, old man," I remarked. "I heard
you marching about in the night."
"No, I could not sleep," he answered. "This infernal problem is
consuming me. It is too much to be balked by so petty an
obstacle, when all else had been overcome. I know the men, the
launch, everything; and yet I can get no news. I have set other
agencies at work, and used every means at my disposal. The whole
river has been searched on either side, but there is no news, nor
has Mrs. Smith heard of her husband. I shall come to the
conclusion soon that they have scuttled the craft. But there are
objections to that."
"Or that Mrs. Smith has put us on a wrong scent.
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