Before she reached the corner, she heard his voice in sharp command, answered by a rapid flow of words in a tongue and voice strange to her.
She checked her advance suddenly and noisily, heard a second order jerked out, and showed herself.
"Abajo las manos," Dick had said—just in time, for Pépe el Lagarto's hands hung by his sides once more when Mrs. Brundage came round the corner and caught her first sight of him.
A small, dingy-faced man, with fear in the lines of his mouth, but a pathetic, dog-like trust in his eyes, stood looking up at the stern master who, it seemed, had caught him unawares.
Mrs. Brundage did not like the new-comer, nor the aspect of this meeting.
"Who is this man, Mr.—Mr. Dick?" she asked.
He turned upon her with surprise so well-feigned that she fully believed he had not heard her coming.
"He's my chauffeur, Mrs. Brundage," he said. "He is of Spanish blood, born in the Republic of La Plata. With the skill which is second nature to him he has tracked me to your house—to tell me that my car is already repaired, and that the Earl of Toronto—er—the Marquis of Ontario is sending out party after party to search the whole countryside for us. With your permission, Pépe el Lagarto will remain here until the Lady Adelina is able to proceed, when he will guide us to the place where the car is concealed."
Dick led the way back to the Brundage kitchen, where he made this strange servant sit down, and set before him half a tumbler of rum.
"I hope," he said magnificently, "that you will pardon my listening to a full account of his doings. It is in the interest of the Lady Adelina that I should know everything; and the conclusion of my narrative to you, Mrs. Brundage, must, I regret to say, be postponed."