"Will you tell me where and how I can see him? Just a word, or, if not, then to send him a message."
"It is impossible," said Piers Minor, stolidly. "This is a time of war, and only for life and death——"
"It is a question of that," insisted the youth.
Piers Minor shook himself impatiently.
"Speak out, can't you? What is it that he would care to know?"
"Tell him, then, that last night Esmay disappeared, and yet still remains in Arcadia House. He will understand, for he knows Quinton Edge."
"A woman!" ejaculated Piers Minor, in supreme disdain. "Always that."
"Yes, always that," retorted the boy, and Piers Minor burst into a laugh.
"You are a bold one," he said, half admiringly. "Well, I will tell him; I promise you that. And now what am I to do with you?"
The boy made a grimace. "We may part as we have met, with no one the wiser."