"Wait," Laurence interrupted. "You are wrong there. He might wish to see the mysterious creature who displayed gymnastic tricks for my sole benefit the night before last."
"My dear Mr. Carrington," replied Lena (and she used that title only because she wished to see his look of regret), "your memory is failing you. Why, you told me yourself that the monkey-like creature—or presumably it—was now within the walls of Durley Dene."
"You astound me, Miss Scott," replied Laurence; "really, I have no recollection of making such a statement."
"You silly boy," answered Lena, with ill-disguised mirth, "what about the strange cry that disturbed your interview with Smith as you were leaving the house last night?"
"Ah! Then you think that cry proceeded from the mouth of the person whom I encountered on the moor and again in the barn?"
"Well, it certainly appears to me that there is something similar in your description of the two sounds. But you yourself can judge better of that than I can."
"Yes; but why should this horrible creature scream as I was leaving the Dene, and if Smith is my father's would-be murderer, who is the person that used the barn as its headquarters?"
"If you knew that, Laurence, there would probably be no mystery at all. It is as to these points we have yet to decide."
"Then, do you mean that, in your opinion, the creature in the barn was not the attempted assassin?"
"We practically decided that last night when we noted the possibility of Smith having crept through the palisade and attacked your father in his room. From what you tell me about the man, I think it more than probable that we are at last on the right track. In brief, we have now come to the following conclusion—or, rather, supposition, for there is just the chance that we are wrong.