"It reduces itself to this," I said finally to Godfrey. "If Silva is a
charlatan, there is no reason why he should hypnotise Miss Vaughan;
but if he really wishes to make a priestess of her, then, by the same
token, he is sincere and not a charlatan at all."
Godfrey nodded.
"There's a twist there which I can't seem to get straight," he
admitted. "We'll have to watch Silva a little longer to find out what
his game really is. Of course, it's just possible that he'd be glad
to get rid of the girl, but that she really is obsessed by the idea of
carrying out her father's wish. If that's the case, Silva is rather up
a tree."
"That's where _we'd_ better be getting," broke in Simmonds, who had
taken out his watch and held it up to the light. "It's nearly twelve
o'clock, and I don't want to miss the fireworks. Besides, you fellows
don't gain anything by all this jawing. You've been at it for an hour,
and you're more tangled up now than when you started. My motto with a
case of this kind is just to sit quiet and watch it; and pretty soon
the rat thinks the coast is clear, and pokes out his head, and you nab
him."
"There's a good deal in that," agreed Godfrey, with a little laugh.
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