“I will write to them at home; Alick knows a good many hunters, and could put Miles into the way of making inquiries, if he touches at Natal on his way home.”
“Miles will do all he can,” said Julius; “he was almost broken-hearted when he found how Archie had gone. I think he was even more his hero than Raymond when we were boys, because he was more enterprising; and my mother always thought Archie’s baffled passion for the sea reacted upon Miles.”
“He will do it! He will find him, if he is the Miles I take him for! How old was he—Archie, I mean?”
“A year older than Raymond; but he always seemed much younger, he was so full of life and animation—so unguarded, poor fellow! He used to play tricks with imitating hand-writing; and these, of course, were brought up against him.”
“Thirty-four! Not a bit too old for the other end of the romance!”
“Take care, Rosie. Don’t say a word to Jenny till we know more. She must not be unsettled only to be disappointed.”
“Do you think she would thank you for that, you cold-blooded animal?”
“I don’t know; but I think the suspense would be far more trying than the quiet resigned calm that has settled down on her. Besides, you must remember that even if Archie were found, the mystery has never been cleared up.”
“You don’t think that would make any difference to Jenny?”
“It makes all the difference to her father; and Jenny will never be a disobedient daughter.”