Page:Fletcher - The Mortover Grange Affair.pdf/243



From that moment the insatiable curiosity of the apprentice, unwillingly concealing himself behind the pile of merchandise, was doomed to disappointment; the chief actors in the scene followed at a little distance by the wondering porter who carried the light luggage and watched speculatively by another in charge of their cabin trunks, moved further into the shed to a more private position, and beyond Stainsby's straining ears. He saw exchange of words, gestures, and for a time gathered nothing. But there where the detectives were grouped with their captives strange things were happening.

In the course of his professional career Wedgwood had often been suddenly surprised himself and had just as often seen surprise expressed on the faces of other people. But, much to his astonishment, he had hardly uttered the word forgery when he saw a surprise in Thomas Wraypoole's expression which he knew, beyond doubt, to be genuine. Wraypoole, indeed, laughed—and the laugh was a sneer.