Captain from castile

It was only by luck that De Vargas, glancing at the door a moment later, observed that the wicket had been once more slid back. But why should the man want to spy on him while he was eating? He could have remained inside and watched for all Pedro cared.
Then, as if from nowhere, a shadow of suspicion crossed De Vargas's mind. It was queer about the Alcante: men of the jailer's stripe were not apt to turn down a good drink. The fellow had made a point of praising the wine. It was still queerer about the wicket. Pedro remembered his father's estimate of the turnkey. Why not put it to the test?


The writer wrote this in 1945. So he uses a lot of words most writers do not use now days. Or would use a different word for the same meaning. Like some of the words the writer used in this passage are: wicket, queer, apt,turnkey and jailer's stripe. These are words I do not remember coming across in any other book's I have read. But I like writers using older phrases.