"Yes, sir," respectfully.
"Then do me the favor to mount that box and drive my horses this afternoon."
"And you, sir," turning to poor Belknap, "get off my premises and keep off."
And so it came about that Jerry Belknap, private detective, found himself once more outwitted, and "Mr. Smith, the book-peddler," drove the carriage containing John Burrill's chief mourners.
"Pardon this little scene, gentlemen," said Mr. Lamotte, turning to his friends, "but I happen to know that the man I dismissed is drunk."
Half an hour later a servant tapped softly at the door where Constance kept watch, and said:
"There's a boy below, Miss Wardour, who says he has an important message for you, and must deliver it in person."
Constance went immediately down to find our old friend George, the image boy, in the hall below.
She smiled at sight of him, hoping to obtain some news of Bathurst. But he only bowed, as if to a queen, placed in her hand a small, sealed envelope; and before she could utter a word, she was standing alone in the crape-hung hall, while the boy's steps could be heard ringing on the stones outside.
Standing there, Constance hastily opened the envelope. It contained a letter and a scrap of paper. Glancing first at the scrap, she read these words: