Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-25

| mind. And now it's Treveddoe goes about
alone in the dog-cart, and says as how
the gentleman has gone back to London,
and as he's left the trap in his charge till
he comes down again. Well, sir, so far,
so good; but the queer part of 1t is that
nobody can find out where the gentleman
took train for London, nor yet Treveddoc
won't say what his address is there In
fact. Mr.. Rede, the gentleman has disap-
peared'
And honest John. conscious of the effect
he was making, increased the volume of
his voice to deep below on the last word
The farmer exclaimed. Mrs Rede and
Aunt Faith uttered little screams but Piety
remained silent. and only the pallor of her
cheeks and the close pressure of her lips
showed that she had taken in every word
of the mysterious story.
John went on with renewed energy, and
in a loftily magnanimous tone:
"Of course, 1t may be all right; the gen
tleman may turn up safe and sound; the
suspicious of the police Chere from the
lips of Piety there escaped faint groan)
may be without justification. But still 1t
does look fishy. don't it? Specially as it
seems young Treveddoe's been very flush of
money these last three evenings while at
the Bull and Mouth, when he came in on
Thursday afternoon with the gentleman.
Treveddoe seemed to have nothing in his
pockets: for. instead Of flashing his money
about as he's done since, it was the gentle
man as shelled out for everything"
But If the gentleman a friend of
of his horse and trap, surely there's moth
ing wonderful in his leaving him with some
money toor'
Very true, Miss Piety," retorted John.
with an air Of indulgent superiority. But,
then, they didn't seem like friends, but
more like master and servant. The other
was too much of a gentleman to be a friend
of chap like Treveddoe." he went on i'm
perturbably, but probably with conscious
ness OF the pain he was infiicting by this
disparaging reference to his humble rival
And 1t wasn't as If Treveddoe had been
spending shfllings; but he's fiinging away
pounds, and on such fry as Nan Philpot
and the like"
Piety shuddered. But it was with anger
against the bland John rather than against
Nigel.
She took no part in the discussion which
followed; she had to listen to universal
cry OF horror, untempered by any doubt as
to NigePs guilt of crime Of the blacklist
kind. For while they spoke openly Of theft,
they presently whispered of murder.
= Unable to bear more of this one-sided dis
cussion, In which she herself dared take no
further part, Piety left the others as quick
ly as she could on preteuse of some mes
sage to her Sunday school class. When she
reiofned them she had a suspicion that
some sort of project or plot in which Nigel
was concerned. was afloat. but the details
of it she did n. learn until later
She could only guess when, that evening,
after spending the afternoon at the farm,
John Mercer left the house in company with
her father little before g. that they were
bound on some expedition which had for its
object the discontinue or exposure of the
unhappy Nigel.
men felt a strong interest in clearing up
the mystery which hung over the affair, so
they made their way to the Green Man,
halfway house between Carstairs and