“The fool part of it was that I never wised up to who he was till afterward. I was thinking about my news dope, I suppose. Anyhow, it wasn’t till after I’d got that out of the way that I began to wonder whether the strange guy might not have been this man we want to get hold of. It certainly looked a bit like it, his bleeding Elgin that way.”
“Didn’t he say anything about what he’d done for Elgin?” Lefty asked eagerly.
“No, or I’d have woke up in a jiffy. It was only that he’d done something which put him personally to the bad. I haven’t a doubt now as to what that something was, but I’m afraid there isn’t anything you could call real proof.”
Locke shook his head. “I’m afraid not,” he agreed slowly.
More than ever he regretted that he had missed the rascal in the corridor by a hair’s breadth. Truly, luck seemed to be with Bert Elgin in everything he undertook.
CHAPTER XX
JANET HARTING WONDERS
Lefty did not devote much more thought that night to Bert Elgin and his doings. Just before supper a letter arrived which drove every other idea from his head. For a second or two he stood staring at the familiar handwriting, wondering how in the world Janet had found out where he was. When he hastily slit the envelope and took in the meaning of the few lines on that single sheet of paper, his astonishment knew no bounds.
First he gave a long whistle. Then a wide grin overspread his face. It did not much matter what had brought the girl to Ashland, the fact remained that she was here and that he would see her that night. That was all that really counted.
He ate his supper hurriedly, oblivious for the first time to the continued coldness of his companions. His thoughts were elsewhere. Afterward he hastened up to his room and changed his clothes. Half an hour later he was running up the steps of the house on High Street.