They had found accommodation at the hotel in which Maud had once spent a night, and having dined there they splashed through the muddy streets in search of their goal.
They found it, a tall, gaunt house standing back in a dark, dripping garden, unlighted, forsaken.
"It can't be the place!" said Bunny, for the first time feeling his ardour for the adventure slightly damped.
"We'll soon find out," said Jake.
They groped their way to a flight of steps and with the aid of a match found the bell. It rang desolately through the building.
"The house is empty!" declared Bunny.
But after a considerable pause a step sounded within, and a white-faced maid-servant opened to them.
"Come in!" she said, in a hollow voice. "You're very late."
"Mrs. Bolton here?" asked Jake, as he stepped on to the mat.
She nodded as if in agitation. "Yes, I'll tell her."