t will support
your account of me. And finally, get back to London by the first train
after you have seen Mr. Rattar."

"Then aren't you working with old Simon?" enquired Sir Malcolm.

"Oh, in a sense, I am," said Carrington carelessly, "but I daresay you
have found him yourself an arbitrary, meddlesome old boy, and I like to
be independent."

"By Gad, so do I," the baronet agreed cordially. "I am quite with you
about old Silent Simon. I'll do just exactly as you suggest. He won't
get any change out of me!"

"And now," said Carrington, "get your bag taken to any other hotel you
like. I'll explain everything to Miss Peterkin."

Sir Malcolm by this time had finished his third sloe gin and he said
farewell with extreme affability, while his friend Mr. Carrington
dropped into the manageress' room and explained that the poor young man
had seemed so nervous and depressed that he had advised his departure
for a quieter lodging. He added with great conviction that as a sporting
man he would lay long odds on Sir Malcolm's innocence, and that between
Miss Peterkin and himself he didn't believe a word of the current
scandals.

That evening Mr. Carrington joined the choice spirits in the manageress'
room, and they had a very long and entertaining gossip. The conversation
turned this time chiefly on the subject of Mr. Simon Rattar, and if by
the end of it the agreeable visitor was not fully acquainted with the
history of that local celebrity, of his erring partner, and of his
father before him, it was not the fault of Miss Peterkin and her
friends. Nor could it fairly be said to be the visitor's fault either,
for his questions were as numerous as they were intelligent.

XXXI

THE LETTER AGAIN

On the morning after Sir Malcolm's fleeting visit to the Kings Arms, the
manageress was informed by her friend Mr. Carrington that he would like
a car immediately after breakfast.

"I really must be a little more energetic, or I'll never find anything
to suit me," he smiled in his most leisurely manner. "I am thinking of
running out to Keldale to have another look at the place. It might be
worth taking if they'd let it."

"But you've been to Keldale already, Mr. Carrington!" said Miss
Peterkin. "I wonder you don't have a look at one of the other places."

"I'm one of those fellows who make up their minds slowly," he explained.
"But when we cautious fellows do make up our minds, well, something
generally happens!"

Cir