"I feel as though I was rehearsing for private theatricals," he said, with a somewhat embarrassed laugh, after Burton had gone over his plans with him in minute detail.
"That's all right. If we get what we want, it will be worth it. If we don't, we won't be any worse off than we are now. You understand. You will see that Underwood is taken home--not before eleven o'clock--and that your plainclothes man stays with him from that minute until further orders. And no one must know that he is out of jail except the man with him. I'll see the family in the morning and explain, and I'll see Selby in the course of the morning and see that he knows the news. Then just an hour after he is in the house,--neither more nor less,--there is to be an alarm of fire. You will see about that. Then I'll see you afterwards and we'll decide whether to go on with it."
"I guess I've got it straight," said Watson. "You are responsible for this, you know, and if anything goes wrong--"
"I'll take the responsibility, all right. It will be a busy day, but I rather hope something may come of it, Mr. Watson."
Watson cleared his throat discreetly. Of course if anything did come of it, he wouldn't mind taking the credit for the result, but since he was already committed to a theory on the subject of the High Ridge mystery, he didn't care to welcome any other suggestion too enthusiastically.
Burton went to his hotel, his thoughts in an excited whirl of possibilities. There was a telegram waiting for him. He tore it open, and read it twice over before he could focus his mind on it sufficiently to understand it.
"Arrive at two tomorrow private car. Be ready to go on west with me.
"Rachel Overman."
"To-morrow!" Burton said, trying to pull his thoughts together. "What in the world is the matter? Go west? Well, hardly! Is Phil worse, I wonder. Thank heaven she doesn't arrive in the morning. But go west to-morrow! Why, what nonsense!"
He did not stop to consider that it was exactly the sort of nonsense that he had given Rachel reason to expect of him for the last twenty years.