"BURNETT."
As Mr Drummond studied this telegram he began to feel not only disappointed but a trifle critical.
"Alec Burnett must have come into a fortune!" he said to himself. "Six words—the whole of threepence—wasted in telling me not to reply! As if I'd be spending my money on anything so foolish. I never saw such extravagance!"
On the following morning Mr Drummond was as usual up betimes. He had retired a year or two before from a responsible position in an insurance office, but he still retained his active business habits, and by eight o'clock every morning of the summer was out and busy in his garden. It still wanted ten minutes to eight, and he was just buttoning up his waistcoat when he heard the front-door bell ring. A minute or two later the maid announced that Mr Topham was desirous of seeing Mr Drummond immediately.
"Mr Topham?" he asked.
"He's a Navy Officer, sir," said the maid.
Vaguely perturbed, Mr Drummond hurried downstairs, and found in his study a purposeful-looking young man, with the two zigzag stripes on his sleeve of a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve.
"Mr Drummond?" he inquired.
"The same," said Mr Drummond, firmly yet cautiously.
"You expected a visit from a Mr Burnett yesterday, I believe?"