It was arranged that Molly should go for a walk with him as far as Mr. Andrews' house, and then slip the letter into the letter-box at the door. So Molly ran and fetched her hat and cape, and the brother and sister were soon in the street walking towards the lawyer's house.
They were just turning the corner of the street, when all at once Molly seized her brother's arm, and gripped it so tightly that he thought for the moment she must be ill. "Look! Look!" she whispered. "There is Adrian coming towards us, and he cannot walk straight! Oh dear, he will fall down directly!"
Arthur stood still for a minute, and then, seeing that the young fellow was almost as helpless as he had been when he met him before, he went forward and took his arm.
Adrian tried to shake him off, but Arthur was the stronger, and he held him in a firm grasp as he said: "I say, this won't do. You know your mother will be greatly upset if she should know you have been to that saloon again!"
"Mind your own business, and don't go chattering!" he muttered, with an ugly oath.
"Molly, you must not stand there! Go home, dear, and I will leave the letter as I go past Mr. Andrews' office in the morning. I must take this chap home, or he may fall among thieves again."
"You're a nice fellow to talk about thieves! Who stole my mother's letter down at that shop?" sneered Adrian, who was not so drunk that he could not recognize Arthur.
Arthur's face blazed crimson with anger for a minute, and he felt disposed to knock his cousin down, but second thoughts compelled him to hold him up lest he should fall.
"Don't be a fool, Adrian," he said. "You know more about that letter than I do."
"It's a lie! It's a lie! You can't prove anything! I tell you there is nothing you can prove against me!" he hissed.