"Whew!" exclaimed he, as he drove off.
CHAPTER IV.
IN WHICH ERNEST RELEASES THE CAPTIVE MAIDEN FROM HER PRISON.
WHAT the precise signification was of the "whew!" which the gentlemanly Tom had uttered, I did not know; but it seemed to indicate that he was not particularly pleased to learn that I had been a visitor at the house. I felt that there was work for me to do, which I could commence at once by following out the clew afforded me by Mrs. Loraine's visitor. My first business was to ascertain who this gentleman was. Doubtless any one in the house could tell me. Probably Kate knew all about him, and I was all the more eager to see her.
I walked down to the pier in a brown study. Mrs. Loraine had positively refused to let me see Kate, at the present time or in the future. She was again confined to her room, not to leave it, I judged, for weeks, unless I put my plan of intervention into execution. Her oppressor was away, and the present seemed to be the most favorable time for releasing the captive.
"Come, Ernest, are you going home, or not?" called Bob, who was getting impatient at my delay.
"Not yet, Bob; there is something for us to do before we go."
"What's that?"