“But he is at Haymore Hall now. And it will require a legal process to get him out, for he will fight every inch of the ground.” “Not at all! He is not at Haymore Hall, nor has he ever been there. His fraudulent presence is not known there. If he were there now, or ever had been there, or if his person were known there under his stolen name of Randolph Hay, then, I grant you, in that case we might have to meet some trouble and confusion, yet not much. And as it is, we shall have no trouble at all.” “But this is strange. How is it that he has never been to Haymore?” inquired Ran. “Because, it seems, he prefers to squander the revenues of the estate in Paris. But let me tell you what I have this afternoon learned of the fellow from Messrs. Sothoron & Drummond.” “Yes, pray do,” said Judy. “It seems, then, that when he first brought his—lady over here, he intended to go to Haymore, and even had grand preparations made there for their reception; but from some caprice, he changed his mind and went to Paris, where he has been with his—lady ever since, squandering money just as if he knew it did not belong to him, and deferring his return from time to time, and drawing large sums from—your bankers.” “From what I know of Gentleman Geff, I should think it hard to draw him from the saloons of Paris to the seclusion of a Yorkshire country house,” said Ran. “Yes; but now it seems he is really coming with a party of friends to spend Christmas at Haymore Hall. He has sent down orders for the house to be prepared to receive himself and—lady and guests by the fifteenth. Now then, the servants at the Hall are preparing to receive Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Hay, whom they have never seen. Now you and your wife are Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Hay.” “Well, what do you advise?” inquired Ran. “Why, man alive, your course is as plain as daylight. You and your wife take the first train to-morrow and speed to Yorkshire and to Haymore Hall, where you will arrive early in the evening, where you will, no doubt, find everything ready for you and be joyfully received by your servants. To be sure, you will arrive rather earlier than you were expected; but that will not matter much, especially as it will give you time to get well rested before you will be called upon to receive Gentleman Geff and his distinguished party.” “Oh, that will be the most delicious fun!” exclaimed Judy, clapping her hands with glee; “and we will have, besides Ran and myself, Mike, Dandy and Longman all drawn up in a line to welcome him. He will think all Grizzly Gulch has come to Haymore Hall.” “For his guilty soul it would seem “‘Birnam forest come to Dunsinane.’” said Will Walling. “There would be an awful row,” exclaimed Ran. “Not at all. There would be a surprise, a panic and a flight. That is, if you let the villain go. I am not sure that you ought not to have a warrant and an officer ready to arrest him. Or rather, I am sure that you ought.”