The vehicle, a dog-cart, drew nearer. They all went to the window. Even the indifferent Robert rose and joined them.
Helen startled them by running out to the side of the drive.
“This time I am not mistaken,” she cried hysterically. “It is Davie!”
The proceedings of the gentleman who jumped from the dog-cart left no doubt on the point. He brazenly kissed her, and in her excitement she seemed to like it.
She evidently whispered something to him, for his first words to Brett were:
“How did you find out—”
But the barrister was not anxious to let the cousin from Argentina into the secret of the search for him.
“I have found out nothing,” he interrupted. “I have been at Beechcroft all the afternoon and evening. Meanwhile, you must be surprised to meet Mr. Robert Hume-Frazer here so unexpectedly.”
David luckily grasped his friend’s intention. Such information as he possessed must wait until they were alone. “How d’ye do, Bob?” he said, frankly holding out his hand. “Why have you left us alone all those years, to turn up at last in this queer way?”
The young man’s kind greeting, his manly attitude, had an unlooked-for effect.