"I'm not going just yet," he said soothingly; "we shall still have a little while together. Mother, I wish I could see Mr. Mason again; but, if I do, it must be soon. It will be too late to-morrow."
"I'll run and fetch him," cried Sandy; "he were askin' after you only this mornin, and he'll be glad to come. Only don't you go while I'm away."
He stopped for one moment to kiss John Shafto, with a sharp pang of fear lest he should never see him alive again. Then he ran downstairs, and rushed away through the dark street, at a swifter pace than he had ever run before, crying to himself over and over again, half aloud, "Johnny 'ill be dead afore I can get back again."
———◆———
[CHAPTER XV.]
FOUND AT LAST.
IT was nearly a mile to the street where Mr. Mason lived; but Sandy did not pause to take breath in his rapid race. He tore along the pavement, and dashed over the crossings, as he might have done if a policeman had been in chase of him. When he reached Mr. Mason's house, he knocked at the door with an earnestness that procured an immediate attention.
"I'm come for Mr. Mason!" he gasped. "John Shafto's dyin', and he wants to see him."
"Master's not at home," said the servant; "he went out at six o'clock."
"Where's he gone to?" enquired Sandy, with a blank feeling of dismay.