"
"And so old Ram Lal has it 'in for him,' too! What can he mean?"
With a sudden impulse Major Hawke drove back and made a formal
call upon the ladies at the Marble House. He was astounded when old
Simpson, with a grudging welcome, openly announced that the ladies
were permanently not at home. "Gone to the hills for a month or
two," curtly replied the veteran servant, and then, on a silver
tray, the butler decorously handed to Major Alan Hawke a sealed
letter. "I was to seek you out at the Club, sir, as this letter
is important. I take the liberty to give it to you now. It was the
master's orders: 'That I give it into your own hands!'"
Major Alan Hawke's face darkened as he read the curt lines penned
by Hugh Johnstone himself. With a smothered curse he thrust the
letter in his pocket. "Both of them are trying to keep me in the
dark, I'll let Madame Berthe Louison run her own head into the trap.
Then, when she pays, I will talk, but not till then." The careful
lines stated that for a week the writer would be greatly engrossed
with private matters, and at home to no one. "I will send for you
as soon as I am able to see you, upon some new business matters."
The last clause was significant enough. "He prepared this to give
me a social knockout!" coolly said the renegade. "All right! But
wait! By Gad! I fancy I'll take a cool revenge in joining Ram Lal
and Berthe Louison.
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