Bob was waiting for me on the platform. He was smoking a cigar, and did not appear the least flurried. His calm demeanor, being somewhat antagonistic to the tone of his telegram, annoyed me.
"Well, Bob?" I said.
"Well, old man?" said he. "Knew you would come down by this train."
"Of course you did," I said irritably. "Now for your news."
"No hurry," he said, phlegmatically. "Plenty of time before us."
"Don't trifle, there's a good fellow. Have you seen M. Bordier?"
"I have seen a gentleman of that name. Introduced himself to me. Showed me a letter from your lady friend. It was addressed to you, but he made free with it. He had a right to do so perhaps, as it was in an unsealed envelope. Who is the gentleman? Has he anything to do with this affair?"
"He is an important person in our inquiry, Bob," I replied, "and is intimately connected with it."
"Ah," said Bob, dryly. "If I'd been in your place I should have mentioned him earlier. He came like a bombshell upon me, and vanished, so to speak, like a flash of lightning. Any better, Sophy?"
Then for the first time I noticed the girl. She was crouched up on a bench, with her cloak over her head. The words Bob and I had exchanged were uttered at a little distance from her, and she had not heard my voice. I stepped close to her and removed the cloak from her head.