"Don't worry about it, Maurice," I said. "These little accidents will happen."
"You take it uncommonly coolly, Northcote," broke in Sir George. "If it had happened to me, I'd have had the whole damned countryside arrested by now—by Gad, I would!"
"I shall put it in the hands of the police at once," said Maurice. "Do you think you could recognise the two men?"
I should love to have said yes, just for the pleasure of watching his face; but I thought it might be a bit awkward to make such a statement in view of a subsequent visit from the police.
"I couldn't swear to them," I said, "but I dare say the obliging stranger at the Plough could. He got a better sight of them than I did."
This, without committing Billy, could, I thought, at least give Maurice an unpleasant quarter of an hour.
"Well, it's disgraceful!" burst out Vane; "that's what it is—disgraceful! It's all this confounded Government—setting class against class—that leads to this kind of thing. If I had my way, I'd shoot them down—every man Jack of them."
I was a little in the dark as to who Sir George's imaginary victims might be, but, in any case, the sentiment struck me as being a fairly sound one.
"Perhaps we'd better not say anything further about it to-night," I suggested. "I don't want the loss of a hat to disturb the whole house."
There was a look of relief on Maurice's face. "You're right, Stuart," he said. "It would only upset the women. We'll go over to Woodford first thing in the morning and see the Inspector. I'll have these brutes run to earth: you may be sure of that."