A few days later, they all sat on the terrace one calm evening when Watson came back with the car and gave Dick and Staffer some letters.
"From Murray," Dick announced when he had opened his. "They're going to search the Colvend country next Thursday, and he suggests that we might like to join, though he hints that he's not allowed to give us much information."
"What does he expect to find?" Staffer asked. His tone expressed indifference, but Whitney suspected that it covered a keen interest.
"He doesn't say. Somebody working a wireless installation, I imagine."
"And is Thursday particularly suitable for that kind of thing?"
"It's Dumfries' early-closing day. They can get a lot of motorcyclists then. Murray states that the coast and moss-roads will be watched."
"You ought to go," Elsie interposed. "Mr. Whitney would enjoy a day upon the heather."
"An opportunity for combining a pleasant excursion with a patriotic duty!" Staffer remarked. "Well, the high ground from Bengairn to Susie Hill will need some searching. No doubt, they'll push across the moors toward Black Beast?"
"Murray doesn't say, but it's probable. I don't know whether the military authorities have the spy mania; but if there is any ground for suspicion, it can do no harm to draw the Galloway moors. What do you think, Andrew?"
"I'd try the hills farther east."