I didn't think he would be able to tell me anything I didn't already know; but there was nothing for it but to sit still and listen, though I wished mightily he would ungag me and let me reveal my identity; for it was clear that all this while the real murderer was gaining precious time. But the next words sent my mind spinning in a vortex of alarming doubt. "There were three brothers," the clear voice continued. "The eldest we will call"--he repeated with emphasis--"we will _call_--Captain Field." There was a pause; I supposed for the significance of the words to sink into my mind. "You see," continued the man, "I intend to convince you that I know the meaning of those marks upon your hand, and that if you still have any love for your own skin you will put yourself at my service. And remember, though walls have ears, the waves have none. We are as private here as in the grave. However, the story will speak for itself. We will begin with Captain Field." I was all attention, straining to sift his words and catch the underlying significance of it all. He went on: "There is a certain haunted house on the northern moors that you and I know well. It was there that the Captain," he stressed the title with a slight sneer, "first discovered the manuscript which told of the winning and burying of the accursed treasure. That part of the story I needn't relate. For proof that I know it, if that is of any consequence, here is the document itself." He held out his hand to the little fellow beside him who brought the document out from under his cloak and gave it to him. He laid it out before me, slowly turning the pages so that I might satisfy myself that it was the genuine thing. As I stretched at my bonds to gaze at it I knew that the horrible doubt that had seized me at the mention of the Captain's name was the very truth: it was my father's murderer who had stolen the manuscript that lay before me, and it must be my father's murderer who now sat facing me telling me this story. So I hadn't been captured by mistake. Rather the sign that was to have betrayed my enemy had betrayed me instead. I wondered what the condition would be which was to save me from these men. I listened with all my attention, hoping I might discover some missing link in the narrative which would give me the advantage of them; for I surmised there must be something they wanted to know which only I could tell. If I were clever enough to find the weak point in their information I might foil them yet.