"Joe Brill!" cried Mr. Thorold. "He is the very man I want. Where is he, Miss Vicky?"
"At the Moat House. I went to the kitchen for a moment; he was there--he had just come in. I thought he was a ghost," declared the little lady solemnly; "indeed I did until he convinced me that he was flesh and blood."
"What explanation did he make?" asked Sophy anxiously.
"None--to me. He said he was ready to explain his absence to Mr. Thorold."
"Did he? Then he shall have the chance. Go back to the Moat House, Miss Parsh, and send on Joe to the Good Samaritan."
"Why there of all places?" asked the Rector.
"Because I am going to see Lestrange, and force the truth out of him. There shall be an end to all this devilment. He accuses me, does he!" cried Thorold, with an ugly look. "Let him have a care lest I accuse him, and prove my accusation, too, with the help of Joe Brill."
"Joseph!" cried Miss Parsh, quite at sea. "What can he do?"
"He can prove if Lestrange's story is true or false."
"Story, Mr. Alan! What story?"