Then it developed that Hume made a boast of having
come by this naturally enough. He claimed descent from one of
Washington's officers. Tobin could not recall the officer's name; but
he related an anecdote of him that was unmistakable. The officer was
General Wayne!"
"By George!" cried Pendleton.
"The collection of Wayne portraits was in this way explained. It was
also suggested to me that Hume might be an assumed name--that the
numismatist might have once been known as Wayne, and that Locke had
known him by that name. Of course, it's quite likely that he was not
really a descendant of Wayne. But he probably called himself Wayne
nevertheless.
"I see," said Pendleton, his hands waving with excitement. "And in the
stress of the moment, Locke wrote the name 'Wayne' upon the step in
candle grease, forgetting that his confederate only knew their
proposed victim as Hume." His eyes rested upon the walls and upon the
sneering, unpleasant portrait of the murdered man. "He meant that the
thing he desired was _there_," indicating the portrait with an
exultant sweep of the arm. "And by George, it must be there still."
He sprang forward with the evident intention of wrenching the picture
from the wall; but Ashton-Kirk restrained him.
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