‘Should you know them again?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘Will you excuse me, and I will call them into the hall?’ said Sir Jasper.
This was effected, and Master George had to identify the boys, after which Sir Jasper elicited that Petros had seen the dirty envelope come out of his brother’s letter, and that his sister had put it into another, which she addressed as he described, and gave into his charge to deliver. Then came the account of the way he had been refused admittance by the porter.
‘Why didn’t you give him the letter?’ demanded Mr. Stebbing.
‘Catch us,’ responded Sydney Grove, rejoiced at the opportunity, ‘when what we got was, “Get out, you young rascals!”’
Petros more discreetly added—
‘My sister wanted it to be given to Mr. Stebbing, so we went up to the house to wait for him, but it got late for school, and I saw the postman drop the letters into the slit in the door, so I thought that would be all right.’
‘Did you see him do so?’ asked Sir Jasper of the independent witness.
‘Yes, sir, and he there’—pointing to George—‘saw it too, and—’