"I have done something now, Leslie," said her father. "I have invited a committee to come here this evening and make a search, as those fool bills suggested."
"This evening?"
"Yes. You will have to do the honors, if I am going to be laid up. I don't suppose your mother will care to see them. And Henry is not exactly the one." A shadow passed over his face, and he fell suddenly silent.
"What do you mean by a search, if I may ask?" Burton put in. They were so frank in their attitude, he felt that his interest would not be regarded as an impertinence.
"Why, ever since this rumor went abroad that I had held up Selby, there have been handbills distributed about town,--posted up on fences and thrust in open doors,--urging that my house be searched. It got on Leslie's nerves. So, just to let her see that something was doing, I told them today to come and search, and be hanged to them."
"And they are coming this evening?"
"Yes. That's the plan."
"Is Selby one of them?" asked Burton with sudden interest.
"Oh, yes. He's the one I spoke to about it. I understand he takes an interest in the matter."
"Well, have you made ready for them?"