"Does he know you are in the Crimea?"
"I have been unable to find him. I lost all my money; it was stolen from me directly I landed, and, if I had not found this place with the black woman, I should have starved."
"Poor child! Alone and unprotected in this terrible place. It was sheer madness your coming."
"But I could tell him in no other way."
"Tell him what?"
"He has two bitter and implacable enemies, who are sworn to take his life."
Hyde shook his head gravely.
"It is true, as Heaven is my witness—perfectly true. But read this if you doubt me," and the boy, who was no other than Mariquita in disguise, produced the scrap of paper she had picked up in the shop in Bombardier Lane.
"I did not doubt your words. I was thinking of those enemies—one of them, at least—and wondering why she is permitted to live."
He took the letter, and read it slowly.