"I did; every blessed word; and I'm not going to forget one either, so don't you make any blooming error."
"Then, in that case, you are aware that this lady is guiltless."
"If she didn't, her father did, or one of her lot--you told her yourself his name was Gilbert--so what's the odds? She can explain all about that to them when they've got her, and I hope she'll like the job. Anyhow, it's no business of mine, all that; it's the pieces I'm after. I lay they offer more than twenty-five, and I'm going to have it. All the same, I'll take twenty-five from you, if I lose by it. You give me five and twenty pounds, where I'm standing now, and I'll keep my mouth shut--I don't wish no harm to no one; I can't say nothing fairer."
"Till when will you keep it shut?"
"Why, till----"
The youth seemed to hesitate; Mr Frazer finished his sentence for him.
"Till the money's spent: or till you get within hail of a policeman."
"Now, governor, you didn't ought to talk to me like that; you really oughtn't--I'm not that kind at all--I give you my word I'm not. When I say I'll do a thing, I do it; I'm not like some of them. You can trust me--straight, you can." Apparently he was endeavouring to train his countenance to wear an expression which would inspire confidence. All at once he seemed to see something in the steadfast gaze with which the other was regarding him which filled him with uncomfortable qualms. "Now then, stow it--I'll call!"
Shaping his lips to whistle, he moved back. But before he could utter a sound, or get out of reach, or make an effort to defend himself, Mr Frazer had sprung at him over the intervening bush. With one hand he gripped his throat, with the other his arm; with a sudden, curious twisting movement he spun him round, and flung him face downwards, with a force which seemed amazing. Where the lad fell he lay, motionless. Mr Frazer looked down at him.
"One doesn't always spend money in acquiring the art of ju-jitsu for nothing, after all. I always had a feeling that that fall might come in useful one day; and it has. For the present, you young blackguard, I can trust you; but the point is, for how long. I sent him down with a little more vigour than was perhaps absolutely necessary; there wasn't time to be particular; so it'll probably be a good twenty minutes before he comes back to consciousness; but I'm afraid that's not quite long enough. Better make sure." He took the woollen scarf off the young man's neck. "There's not very much strength about it; but I think it'll serve." He drew the young man's arms behind his back, and with his own scarf he tied his hands together, being careful about the sort of knot he used. Taking off the belt with which the lad held up his trousers, placing his ankles close together, he passed it round, then drew it as tight as he could, with the buckle behind. Turning him over on to his back, tearing off a handful of grass, he crammed it between the young man's jaws. Then he regarded the result of his labour with what seemed to be a smile of satisfaction. "When he does come to I don't think he'll be able to make much noise; he certainly won't be able to make enough to attract the attention of those friends of whom he spoke; and I doubt if he'll be able to move much either. By the time a friend does come and find him we ought to have reached a port of comparative safety; and if it's some time before a friend does come, it'll serve him right--and that'll pay him anyhow; it's more money than he ever had in his life." He took a piece of crinkly paper out of his own hip pocket which he placed in the inside pocket of the young man's jacket. "Still, lest a friend should come too soon, we'll place him a little more under the shade of the bushes; which will also serve to protect him from the heat of the sun." Lifting the unconscious lad, he placed him right among the gorse, in such a position that, as he put it, not only was he sheltered from the glow and glare of the sun, but also from the observation of any stray passer-by; indeed, so long as he kept still it would be necessary for such a one to look for him in exactly the proper place before he would become aware that he was there. "He remains quiet; with luck he may continue quiet for quite a considerable number of minutes. When he finds out what has happened to him, and where he is, he'll find it difficult to make much noise, for a time. He'll have to chew, and swallow, a good deal of that green stuff before he'll be able to make much use of his lungs. Before then we ought to be--some distance from this." Leaving the lad under the gorse, moving to where they had had their morning meal, gathering together the breakfast things, Mr Frazer deposited them, together with the bundle which contained what had served him as a bed, on one side of the broad ledge which was outside the caravan door. In a few more minutes he had the horse harnessed between the shafts, and was ready to start. He rapped at the door.