"Ah! We are very anxious to know what you can tell us about him, ma'am,"
said Mr. Pawle.

Mrs. Summers paused, and again glanced significantly at her visitors.

"I wish I knew the meaning of what I shall tell you," she answered.




CHAPTER IX

LOOKING BACKWARD


On the principle that business should never be discussed when one is
dining, Mr. Pawle made no reference during dinner to the matter which had
brought Viner and himself to the Ellingham Arms. He devoted all his
attention and energies to the pleasures of the table; he praised the
grilled soles and roast mutton and grew enthusiastic over some old
Burgundy which Mrs. Summers strongly recommended. But when dinner was
over and he had drunk a glass or two of old port, his eyes began to turn
toward the door of the quaint little parlour in which he and Viner had
been installed, and to which the landlady had promised to come.

"I confess I'm unusually curious about what we're going to hear, Viner,"
he said, as he drew out a well-filled cigar-case. "There's an atmosphere
of mystery about our presence and our surroundings that's like an
aperitif to an already hungry man. Ashton, poor fellow, comes over to