"You'll know soon," Barnabas replied. "Wait till I tell you how I escaped death—it's not a long yarn. You may remember that the Carson House stands on the Susquehanna half a mile below the Kittochtinny Falls. It seems that after Braddock's defeat the family dug a secret passage from the cellar of the house to the river, so's they might escape by water in case of an Indian attack. Well, Glass an' I were sucked under the bushes into the secret mouth of that passage. We were both unconscious at the time, an' when I come to after a bit I didn't know where I was. I hollered three or four times, an' down come Carson an' his son with lanterns. Simon Glass was stone dead, an' I reckon they buried him the next day. I pushed right up to Fort Hunter, learned from Corporal Dubbs where you lads were gone, an' then struck for Harris's Ferry. There I run across Noah Waxpenny—"
"So the sergeant didn't catch him?" interrupted Nathan.
"No, lad. We came on together to Philadelphia, and then across the Jersies here. Waxpenny is out yonder now, washin' off the dust of travel. He's a queer chap, but—"
Just then Mr. Waxpenny himself entered the room, looking as fresh and clean as though he had just stepped off ship.
"I am informed that Major Gerald Langdon is here," he said, rubbing his lean fingers. "Also Captain Richard Stanbury and his son. I have the honor to represent the firm of Sharswood & Feeman, solicitors, Lincoln's Inn, London. They sent me to this country in the interests of their late estimable client, the Earl of Ravenswood—"
"Your errand is already known," the Major interrupted, faintly. "My minutes are numbered, and what you have to tell no longer concerns me. But there stands the new Earl of Ravenswood, and his son, Lord Langdon."
"Sir, these gentlemen have no claim to the titles," said Mr. Waxpenny.
"No claim?" demanded the Major. Nathan and his father looked surprised, and Barnabas nodded at them meaningly.
"I said no claim," repeated Mr. Waxpenny. "The Earl had—a third and elder son, Anthony—"
"He died years ago," gasped Major Langdon.