The superintendent gave a slight bend forward, as much as to say that this introduction to the subject in hand was a matter of course.
Sir Thomas then, with some embarrassment of manner, gave his hearer an account of his son’s unhappy career, and his own difficulties about tracing him, and concluded by saying,—
“And now, sir, I would ask your help to discover my poor boy before it be too late.”
The superintendent signified his assent.
“What do you think?” asked Sir Thomas.
“We can find him, no doubt, if he is still in Liverpool,” said the officer.
“And do you think he is now in Liverpool?” asked Lady Oldfield.
“I do.”
“What makes you think, so?” asked the baronet.
“Several things. First, he’ll be likely to stay where he can get most easily at the drink. Secondly, he’ll not go away to any near country place, because he’d get sooner marked there. Thirdly, as he seems hard up for money, he’ll have to pawn anything he may have left that’s worth pawning, and he can do that best and most secretly in a large town.”