Chapter Nineteen.
Gives a Message to Nello.
A little after ten o’clock that same evening, in our guise as working people, we walked along the Briggate, in Leeds, and presently found a small eating-house, where Tibbie obtained accommodation for the night.
Dressed as we were, Tibbie’s trunk at the station, and a small bag in my hand, I was unable to go to any of the larger hotels. Therefore, after supping off a chop and tomatoes, washed down with a tankard of ale, I bade her good-night and went off to find a bed round in Commercial Street.
Next day, in the dull grey morning, we walked the busy streets of Leeds—Kirkgate, Bond Street, Albion Street, and the neighbouring thoroughfares—and took counsel with each other. Her advertisement, which I saw printed in that morning’s Telegraph puzzled me. Yet I could not admit knowledge of the cipher without also admitting that I was in possession of the key.
I showed it to her in the paper, but she only smiled and thanked me, saying,—
“I suppose you suspect that I am communicating with some lover—eh?”
“Well, Tibbie,” I remarked, in as calm a voice as I could command, “I must admit that I’m much surprised. You seem, somehow, to be misleading me.”