Tell Miss Vanstone this, and pray add
the sincere expression of my sympathy and regard.
"Faithfully yours,
"WILLIAM PENDRIL."
XIII.
_From Mr. de Bleriot to Mrs. Lecount._
"Dark's Buildings. November 1st.
"DEAR MADAM--I have the pleasure of informing you that the discovery has
been made with far less trouble than I had anticipated.
"Mr. and Mrs. Noel Vanstone have been traced across the Solway Firth
to Dumfries, and thence to a cottage a few miles from the town, on the
banks of the Nith. The exact address is Baliol Cottage, near Dumfries.
"This information, though easily hunted up, has nevertheless been
obtained under rather singular circumstances.
"Before leaving Allonby, the persons in my employ discovered, to their
surprise, that a stranger was in the place pursuing the same inquiry as
themselves. In the absence of any instructions preparing them for such
an occurrence as this, they took their own view of the circumstance.
Considering the man as an intruder on their business, whose success
might deprive them of the credit and reward of making the discovery,
they took advantage of their superiority in numbers, and of their
being first in the field, and carefully misled the stranger before they
ventured any further with their own investigations.
Pages:
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884