“Have you been alone since morning?”
“Not quite all the time. I had quite a long call from a stranger.”
“A stranger!” repeated Luke suspiciously. “What was his appearance?”
The old man described Burns, and Luke knew him at once.
“What did he say to you?”
“That reminds me—he said he knew the boy whom Horace has put in the store—young Ray.”
“Did he?”
“Yes, and he doesn’t speak well of him.”
“What does he say about him?”
“I don’t like to tell you, Luke, for I believe he is a protégé of yours.”