"More than six months ago. I went that far with Merle."
"When he went to the United States?"
"Yes, when Belle sent him over there on a mission of some kind. It must have been a startling mission to have fetched this Yankee detective back in his wake."
"Exactly. Now if you only had stopped the detective in London you would have done Merle a favor, but I say you're not to be blamed, Jem, boy."
"I hope not. It wasn't altogether my fault. I never thought of Lord Harway's yacht till it was too late."
The detective, who had pumped Jem so effectually, proposed to adjourn to an alehouse just beyond the park, and the young Briton consented.
They proceeded to a back room, where ale was brought them and where Old Broadbrim played the remainder of his hand.
"So you went up to London with Merle when he set out on the mission across the sea?" he asked.
"I stayed with him till he sailed."
"But he kept the secret, did he? Come, now, Jem, you're a good fellow, and you and I are going to become famous friends, for I don't intend to give you away to Belle Demona, who thinks that you are on the road to Melbourne. I don't care why Merle went to America, for I'm only Roland Riggs, ranch herder and plainsman, and it doesn't matter to me if he went out on a mission of blood."