“Oh, please, sir, please call him off. My assistant, sir.”
“Oh! your assistant—in what? Highway robbery?”
“No, sir. In teaching a school. Please, sir, call him off.” Mr Halgrove paid no heed to the entreaty, but proceeded to extract numerous particulars as to his ward’s conduct and mode of life at Galloway House.
“So he’s taken to minding little boys, has he? and you are his employer? You are aware that you have a treasure of course?”
Even Trimble was not so dense as to miss the sneer with which the inquiry was made. It emboldened him considerably.
“I dislike him; so does ma. We consider him a dangerous character.”
Mr Halgrove laughed.
“What makes you think that?”
“There’s a—oh, sir, please call off the dog—mystery about him. He’s—”
“Is that the reason you spied on him yesterday?”