“He keeps out of the way on purpose; but he shall not escape me!” exclaimed Le, drawing his breath hard.
“I only came to report to you and take orders for the next step,” said Roland.
“He still retains his room at the Calvert?” inquired Le.
“Oh, yes! And all his effects are there.”
“Then, dear boy, go back at once to the Calvert, and stay there until he returns, and then give him my note. Take up your lodgings at the house, if need be, until you discharge your mission,” said Le.
“Yes—yes—certainly—with pleasure—but——”
“But what?”
“If you could lend me the loan of a strong pair of boots, or, better still, a good saddle horse, it might help the cause a little,” replied Roland, laughingly extending both his feet to exhibit his own battered “Wellingtons.”
“What a beast I am!” cried Le, smiting his forehead with his open palm in self-disgust. “You have walked all this distance in my cause, while I have a dozen horses turning to stone for want of exercise in the stables there.”
And he snatched up an iron hand bell, that might have served for a country church or a steamboat, and rang it loudly.