They want to discover who has these silks; and how they came
in, since the customs records show no such importations. And there's a
dark characteristic to these silks. Each bolt has its peculiar,
individual selvage. Each, with a sample of its selvage, is registered
at the home looms. Could anyone get a snip of a selvage he could
return with it to Lyons, learn from the manufacturers' book just when
it was woven, when sold, and to whom. I can tell you one thing,"
observed Harris, as he concluded his story, "we're in a bad corner."
How the cold drops spangled my brows! I began to wish with much heart
that I'd never met Harris; nor heard, that Trinity churchyard day, of
Cornbury and his devious smuggling methods of gathering wealth.
There was one ray of hope; neither Harris nor I had disclosed our
names, nor the whereabouts or quantity of the silks; and as each had
been dealing with folk with whom he'd never before met, we were both
as yet mysteries unsolved. Nor were we ever solved. Harris and I kept
off the streets during daylight hours for a full month. We were not
utterly idle; we unpleasantly employed ourselves in trimming away that
tell-tale selvage. Preferring safety to profit, we put forth no
efforts to realize on our speculations for almost a year.
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