Their host paid the bill, and they strolled reluctantly towards the door, Holderness and Pamela a few steps behind.
"Now what are your sister and Mr. Lutchester studying again?" the latter inquired, as they reached the lobby.
Molly had paused once more before the notice on the wall, which seemed somehow to have fascinated her. She read it out, lingering on every word:
MEFIEZ-VOUS! TAISEZ-VOUS! LES OREILLES ENNEMIES VOUS ECOUTENT!
Holderness listened with a frown. Then he turned suddenly to
Lutchester, who was standing by his side.
"It would be too ridiculous, wouldn't it—you couldn't in any way connect the idea behind that notice with Sandy's disappearance?"
"I was wondering about that myself," Lutchester confessed. "To tell you the truth, I have been wondering all luncheon-time. If ever a man broke the letter and the spirit of that simple warning I should say your excitable young friend, Captain Graham, did."
"But here at Henry's," Holderness protested, "with friends on every side! Isn't it a little too ridiculous! We'll wait until the last person is out of the place, anyway," he added.
The crowd soon began to thin. Ferrani, seeing them still waiting, approached with a little bow.
"Your friend," he asked, "he has not arrived, eh?"