Securely hidden from the probing eye of the press, they were now in something of a quandary as to what their next step should be. The hour set for the luncheon, upon which their mission hung, was only twenty-four hours away: and they had no idea whether the guest of honor intended to come or stay away. Varney was torn between the necessity of keeping clear of reporters, and the even more pressing necessity of calling upon Mary Carstairs. If to go to town was a risk, not to go to town was a much greater one. They finally decided that Peter should go to Hunston first, at once and alone. He would walk in, lest the use of the _Cypriani_ boat should betray them; and there take charge of the situation and see what could be done. "You sit tight," Peter urged, "and give me a chance at it first. The _Gazette_ has got nothing on me, you know; they can camp on my shirt-tail till they get good and tired. Meantime, I'll spread it around that you've gone away and that I'm hanging on a day or two longer to help Hare. You only came on a pleasure trip, and all these sensational lies spoiled your pleasure: so you pulled out. That's plausible and reasonably true, you see. Then I'm going to find that fellow Hammerton and try to bluff him off." "How?" "I'd much like to give him money, but it's never safe to try that with reporters. Oh, I'll hobnob with the fellow, hand him cigars, jolly him along about the neat way they got revenge on us for the meeting, and sort of take it for granted that the incident ended when they chased you away from town. If he seems dubious and acts as if he meant to work on the 'secret mission' idea just the same, I'll go in and call on Coligny Smith. Oh, I'm not going to hit him. If I hadn't known that would be the worst possible tactics, I'd have gone uptown at nine o'clock this morning and yanked him out of bed by his long, lying ears. I'm only going to talk to him in a kindly way. He told us himself that he was out for the hard money, you know." "All right," said Varney. Peter hesitated. "You've _got_ to go in, I suppose? It's hard luck. Here we are working overtime to build up the popular idea that you've quit and gone back to New York. It'll be deuced awkward if that reporter nabs you the minute you set foot in Hunston." "I've got to risk it. I'll wait a while, though, and give them a chance to drop the trail. And when I do go in, I'm not going with a brass band." "There's not the least hurry," said Peter. "You've got all the rest of the day--to-morrow morning, too, for that matter. Wait here till you hear from me, will you? Maybe I can turn up something which will save you from having to go in at all." Varney grinned. "Remember yesterday, Peter?--when you were coming back at ten o'clock and came at four? No more unlimited contracts from me. It is twenty minutes past one now. You can get in by two thirty if you hustle. I must start in by half-past four. It wouldn't be safe to wait any longer."