in sevin
different langwidges, and makin' more noise than all the rest of 'em put
together."

"Gad! you've surely found out something, Dollops, and done a good day's
work, bless your heart," said Cleek admiringly, slipping his arm
through the boy's on one side and through Mr. Narkom's on the other.
"Well, it's to the gravel-pit with the lot of us this evening--at least
for you and me, Dollops. You had better remain here at the Castle, Mr.
Narkom, while we're gone. And meet me at midnight under the big gate.
But let's not be seen, Dollops, else the fat will be in the fire with a
vengeance. Anything else?"

Dollops bent nearer to the man he loved best in all the world, and put
his mouth close up against Cleek's ear.

"One uvver fing, sir--an' wot I calls the piece of resisters," he said
in a low voice. "As I comes aw'y, 'oo should I see a-runnin' dahn the
'ill, side by side with Dicky-Dago, but that there young feller as they
calls Cyril (sickenin' sissy sort er nyme ter give a chap, too!), an' I
jumps back inter the bushes wiv Minnie clinging ter me arm, an' waits
till they've gorn parst. An' I 'ears the youngster s'y you nyme--'Mr.
Deland,' he says, an' 'clever'--and then summink else, wot I didn't
'ear, but wot made Dicky-Dago give out a sort er garsp and gurgle in 'is
froat, an' says something which sounded like a Russian patent medicine,
an'--that's all."

"And a very good 'all', too, Dollops," ejaculated Cleek, giving the
boy's arm a squeeze. "You have surely done your share of unravelling in
this case, at all events. What do you say about it, Mr. Narkom?...
There'll be a nice five-pound note to add to that growing account of
yours for this night's job, I promise you.... And so Cyril is mixed up
in it, too-- _Cyril!_ That boy! Gad! what does it mean, eh? And in
league with those scoundrels.... 'Ten o'clock for bedtime,' says he, so
frankly. Ten o'clock! And the young underhanded rascal roaming the
countryside just before that in company with an Italian of questionable
character! Looks bad, every way you look at it. And with Lady Paula's
actions and secret meetings taken into account as well, puts a pretty
black face upon _their_ little share in last night's tragedy. Now, I
wonder if this Dago, as Dollops calls him, is a lover of the lady's or
what?... Gad! Mr. Narkom, what's your opinion?"

The Superintendent waited a moment, and cleared his throat, and when he
spoke his voice was emphatic and a trifle bored.