"This man, Quirk," cried the old man, vindictively, "has a past, if we can discover it. We must rid ourselves of him; he's a public nuisance, a dangerous, meddlesome fellow. Always poking his nose into something; always making things unpleasant. Quirk must go!"
"Quirk," said Garnett, in the slow and sententious manner he adopted, "is a radical and a demagogue, a positive scourge to the town. As you say, Quirk must go!"
Ebenezer Brown turned to Gerard this time and asked him:
"Are you prepared to make the necessary enquiries for us?"
"Certainly, if you are prepared to pay the necessary expenses," replied Gerard, carelessly.
Ebenezer Brown winced at this, but his hatred of Denis Quirk was an absorbing passion now.
"Garnett and I will share the expenses."
Garnett protested feebly, but the old man overbore him triumphantly.
"Garnett and I will pay," he said.
"Let me have it in writing," said Gerard, producing a typewritten paper from his pocket.