"I have, sir."
"It was needless for you to go there. If you had listened to me—"
"It was not needless. My mother is in the parlor now."
"Your mother!" gasped he, springing from his chair, and then falling back again.
"You shall see her."
"No—no, Ernest!"
There was a knock at the door. I opened it, and Tom Thornton entered. He saw me, and turned pale. His victim had risen from the depths of the ocean to confront him.
"Ah, Ernest," stammered he.
"I am here. E. Dunkswell was a fool as well as a knave."
"What shall be done?" groaned my uncle.