“Herodotus, and he’ll appear,” said Kenrick; “how very odd. It’s mine, sure enough! I lost it, as I was just telling Wilton, I don’t know how long ago. Now, Raven, I’ll find you all he says about crocodiles.”
“Before you look, may I tell you something?” asked Tracy. “I wanted an opportunity to speak with you.”
“Well?”
“Do you mind coming out into the court, then?” said Tracy, glancing at Wilton.
“Oh, never mind me,” said Wilton; “I’ll go out.”
“I shan’t be a minute,” said Tracy, “and then you can come back. What I wanted to say, Kenrick, was only this, and it was a great shame of me not to tell you before; but I see now that I’ve been a poor tool in the hands of those fellows. Jones made you believe, you know, that Evson had told him all about your home affairs, and about the pony-chaise, and so on,” said Tracy, hurrying over the obnoxious subject.
“Yes, yes,” said Kenrick impatiently. “Well, he never did, you know. I’ve heard Jones confess it often with his own lips.”
“How can I believe him in one lie more than another, then? I believe the fellow couldn’t open his lips without a lie flying out of them. How could Jones possibly have known about it any other way? There was only one fellow who could have told him, and that was Evson. Evson must have told me a lie when he said that he’d mentioned it to no one but Power.”
“I don’t believe Evson ever told a lie in his life,” said Tracy. “However, I can explain your difficulty. Jones was in the same train as Evson; he saw you and him ride home; and, staying at Littleton, the next town to where you live, he heard all about you there. I’ve heard him say so.”
“The black-hearted brute!” was all that Kenrick could ejaculate, as he paced up and down his study with agitated steps. “O Tracy, what an utter, utter ass, and fool, and wretch, I’ve been.”