“As I said before, this is a free country, and if a person has anything to say, he has a right to be heard. Now, have you anything to say? If so, I am ready to hear it. There’s no need of any mystery, or darkness, or unusual clothes. All you have to do is to stand right up and speak out.”
The man did not like Chap’s manner at all, but he was a prudent person, and had taken a long walk in order to get some information that might be of advantage to him, so he resolved not to get angry, and answered, very politely,—
“Yes, there are some things I’d like to speak to you about.”
“All right,” said Chap; “just step with me a little farther down the road, so as to be out of ear-shot of the house, and then you can unload your mind.”
“That suits me,” said the man, with a smile, “but it does not agree with what you just now said about having everything free and open, you know.”
“Oh, what I meant,” said Chap, “was that a person should be free and open to the one he is talking to. There is no use shouting private affairs into servants’ ears, and having them tooted all over the country through a horn.”
The man smiled, but made no answer. He followed his companion down the roadway, thinking that this Philip Berkeley was certainly a very curious fellow.
Pausing at a wooden bench, between two trees, Chap remarked,—
“We can sit down here, and if you notice any listeners, just you give a low whistle, and I’ll pounce on them with this club. I’ll keep a lookout, too. Now you can begin to unveil your secret mission. My friend Phil has commissioned me to attend to you and find out the meaning of your nocturnal errands to this place.”
“You don’t mean to say,” said the man, in surprise, “that you are not young Philip Berkeley?”