"Of course, if you say so—"
"You've heard nothing about Paul?"
Mr. Bonnithorne answered with a shake of his yellow head, and a look of inquiry.
Then Hugh told him of the man at the fire, and of Natt's story when he drove up in the trap. He spoke with visible embarrassment, and in a voice that could scarcely support itself. But the deep fear that had come over him had not yet taken hold of the lawyer. Mr. Bonnithorne listened with a bland smile of amused incredulity. Hugh stopped with a shudder.
"What are you thinking?" he asked, nervously.
"That Natt lied."
"As well say that the people at the fire lied."
"No; you yourself saw Paul there."
"Bonnithorne, like all keen-eyed men, you are short-sighted. I have something more to tell you. The people at the Pack Horse say that Paul slept at their house last Wednesday night. Now I know that he slept at home."
Mr. Bonnithorne smiled again.