"Well," said Stanley, standing beside him, "that seems to be that."
"How did it begin?" asked Bill, who had arrived too late to see anything but the wreck that was left.
"No one knows. It was well alight when P.C. Newsam arrived on his beat," Robert said. "What became of those two chaps, by the way?"
"The two we corrected?" Stanley said. "They went home."
"It's a pity that expression is no evidence."
"Yes," Stanley said. "They won't get anyone for this any more than they got anyone for the window-breaking. And I still owe someone for a crack on the head."
"You nearly broke that creature's neck tonight. That ought to be some kind of compensation to you."
"How are you going to tell them?" Stanley said. This obviously referred to the Sharpes.
"God knows," Robert said. "Am I to tell them first and let it spoil their triumph in court for them; or am I to let them have their triumph and face the awful come-down afterwards?"
"Let them have their triumph," Stanley said. "Nothing that happens afterwards can take that away from them. Don't mess it up."