"But—but," he said, hastily, "you must allow me to thank you—you and
Mr. Higginson—"
"The thanks are all Mr. Higginson's. I'm only a messenger—and besides, you aren't grateful at all, you know! You think we've all been extremely intrusive!" She smiled brightly, bowed, and then was suddenly checked by a new thought. "Oh—I wonder if you would tell me something before I go?"
"By all means," said Varney, having no idea whether he would or not.
But the loud jangling whir of a telephone bell from the adjoining room cut into the air, drowning out conversation; and it rang on and on and on as though Central had had her orders.
"I suppose I'll have to answer that to shut them up," he said. "Excuse me for the merest second, won't you?"
He passed through into the brightly-lit business office beyond, and found the telephone, still ringing away on a desk at the farther end. Behind him the door swung shut, a circumstance for which he later had reason to be glad.
"Well?" he called impatiently.
"You, Larry?" asked a familiar voice.
"Yes. What's the matter?"
"Matter enough," said Peter in a guarded undertone. "Hammerton's loose."