"What's come to you, ma'am? There, there, don't give way," said the
maid, softly coaxing her and stroking her hands.
"Oh, Philpotts, fancy! He is there! Falfani, the--the--you know--"
Of course I saw it all now. Stupid ass! I might have guessed it all
along. I had puzzled my brains vainly trying to place him, to fix his
quality and condition in life, neglecting the one simple obvious
solution to which so many plain indications pointed. The man, of
course, was a detective, an officer or private agent, and his dirty
business--you see, I was already shaken in my honesty, and now with
increasing demoralization under seductive influences I was already
inclined to cross over to the other side of the frontier of crime--his
dirty business was the persecution of my sweet friend.
"What are we to do now?" asked Mrs. Blair, her nervous trepidation
increasing. "I begin to think we shall fail, we cannot carry it
through, we shall lose our treasure. It will be taken from us."
"You cannot, you must not, shall not turn back now," said the maid
with great determination.
Pages:
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49