“Yes, Hugh: my little brother. Where is he?”
“How can I tell?”
Tod glanced round the place; there was not any nook or corner capable of affording concealment. Arne gazed at him. He stood on that side the dirty deal table, we on this.
“We have lost Hugh since mid-day yesterday. Do you know anything of him?”
“Certainly not,” was the emphatic answer, and I at least saw that it was a true one. “Is it to ask that, that you have come here?”
“For that, and nothing else. We have been up all night searching for him.”
“But why do you come after him here? I am not likely to know where he is.”
“I think you are likely.”
“Why?”
“You have been talking to the boy about carrying him off with you to see coral islands. You hinted, I believe, to Mrs. Todhetley that you might really take him, if your demands were not complied with.”