"You will stay with me, Mr. Burton," he said quietly. "O'Meara and Hanna, you go to the rear of the house and see that he doesn't make a get-away."
He rang the bell at the front door, and stepped instantly back, so that he could keep an eye on the whole front of the house. In a minute the door was opened wide and Dr. Underwood, in a dressing-gown, stood there peering out into the dark.
"Who wants me?" he asked.
Higgins stepped quickly inside, and as soon as Burton, who followed in his wake, had entered, he closed the front door, turned the key and slipped it into his pocket.
"Excuse me," he said, in a brisk undertone. "No one wants you, Doctor. I want Mr. Henry Underwood."
"You want him, Higgins? What for?"
"Assault."
"Assault? Henry? You're crazy. Henry hasn't spirit enough to assault any one. I'd bail him out with the greatest joy in the world, if he did. Whom did he assault, in the name of Goshen?"
"Mr. Hadley."
"Hadley! Well, there may be something to the boy, after all. When did this happen?"