"I fear it is the reverse," said Emily, shaking her head.
Jefferson overtook Harkaway and Dick Harvey in the gardens, where an active search was going forward after the man, or individual of either sex, who could have thrown the stone with its strange letter.
"Let me see the letter, Jack."
The latter placed it in his hand, and then, to Jefferson's horror and dismay, he found it contained the following words—
"TO HATED HARKAWAY.
"I have had years and years of patience, and my turn has come at last. As your eyes glance at these lines, your boy is vainly supplicating for mercy. Before you reach the signature at foot, your accursed brat will be dead—mark that—dead! No power on earth can save him. Had you sent the money demanded as his ransom more promptly, you could have saved him. May the knowledge of this wring your heart as you have wrung mine in bygone years.
"HUNSTON."
CHAPTER XXII.
A HOUSE OF MOURNING—HARVEY'S RESOLVE—A TIME OF TROUBLE.