avelling, and whip in hand. His imagination had been at
work during the past few minutes, exaggerating all the horrors and
difficulties of Thelma's journey to the Altenfjord, till he was in a
perfect fever of irritable excitement.

"Come on Lorimer!" he cried. "There's no time to lose! Britta knows what
to do--she'll meet me at the station. I can't breathe in this wretched
house a moment longer--let's be off!"

Plunging out into the hall, he bade Morris summon a hansom,--and with a
few last instructions to that faithful servitor, and an encouraging kind
word and shake of the hand to Neville, who with a face of remorseful
misery, stood at the door to watch his departure,--he was gone. The
hansom containing him and Lorimer rattled rapidly towards the abode of
Sir Francis Lennox, but on entering Piccadilly, the vehicle was
compelled to go so slowly on account of the traffic, that Errington, who
every moment grew more and more impatient, could not stand it.

"By Jove! this is like a walking funeral!" he muttered. "I say Lorimer,
let's get out! We can do the rest on foot."

They stopped the cabman and paid him his fare--then hurried along
rapidly, Errington every now and then giving a fiercer clench to the
formidable horsewhip which was twisted together with his ordinary
walking-stick in such a manner as not to attract special attention.

"Coward and liar!" he muttered, as he thought of the man he was about to
punish. "He shall pay for his dastardly falsehood--by Jove he shall!
It'll be a precious long time before he shows himself in society any
more!"

Then he addressed Lorimer. "You may depend upon it he'll shout 'police!
police!' and make for the door," he observed. "You keep your back
against it, Lorimer! I don't care how many fines I've got to pay as long
as I can thrash him soundly!"

"All right!" Lorimer answered, and they quickened their pace. As they
neared the chambers which Sir Francis Lennox rented over a fashionable
jeweller's shop, they became aware of a small procession coming straight
towards them from the opposite direction. _Something_ was being carried
between four men who appeared to move with extreme care and
gentleness,--this something was surrounded by a crowd of boys and men
whose faces were full of morbid and frightened interest--the whole
_cortege_ was headed by a couple of solemn policemen. "You spoke of a
walking funeral just now," said Lorimer suddenly. "This looks uncommonly
like one."