Mr. Downing rose to go.
"Well," he said, "the search is now considerably narrowed down, considerably! It is certain that the boy was one of the boys in Mr. Outwood's house."
"Young monkeys!" interjected the sergeant helpfully
"Good afternoon, Sergeant."
"Good afternoon to you, sir."
"Pray do not move, Sergeant."
The sergeant had not shown the slightest inclination of doing anything of the kind.
"I will find my way out. Very hot today, is it not?"
"Feeflee warm, sir; weather's goin' to break' workin' up for thunder."
"I hope not. The school plays the M.C.C. on Wednesday, and it would be a pity if rain were to spoil our first fixture with them. Good afternoon."