"Better be off with the old life, Owain, before you take on with the new," he said judicially. "Travel will heal all the old soreness, and will place a barrier between the disagreeable past and the pleasant future. Aunt Emma is a sensible woman." "I always am!" said Aunt Emma. "Now, Jim, say what you have to say about this trouble, and let us bury the same for ever." "There isn't much to say," said Vane carelessly. "The newspapers have dropped the matter, and everybody is forgetting the sensation. You won't be bothered with reporters or photographers when you come abroad, Owain. All the same, it is just as well that you are going away." "What does the Inspector say about Bottles' share in the business?" "He wasn't very pleased, and gave both Bottles and his brother a good talking to for having held their tongues for so long." "I wonder why they did," murmured Mrs. Perage, rubbing her nose. "My dear aunt, it was a game to both of them. Bottles having read detective tales was burning to be a Sexton Blake or a Sherlock Holmes. Only when he saw that miserable creature brought to book did the boy realize that his comedy had turned into real tragedy. I've brought him with me as you desired." Vane went to the door and beckoned to the lad, who entered bashfully, to look with adoring eyes on his hero. Hench called to him to come forward and shook him heartily by the hand, thanking him for his great services. "Oh, it ain't nothing, sir," said Bottles, with a glowing face as crimson as his hair. "I'd do anything for you, as you've always been kind to me. And it's been a rattling good game, anyhow." "A sadly serious game, Bottles, I fear." "Yes, sir." The lad turned pale, shivered, and swallowed something with an effort, as he recalled the scene at the Bull Inn. "I didn't think it was so bad till I saw that little cove's face. It wasn't me who got him burnt, was it, sir?" he asked entreatingly. "No! No! my boy. How he came to set the wood on fire, I don't know. Perhaps he struck a match to see his way in the darkness. But we will never know exactly what happened. You are not in any way to blame. What made you suspect him?" "I didn't suspect him at first, sir. It was Madame I thought was the wrong 'un, as I told you. But when I saw that little cove sneaking after her down to Cookley I watched him as well as her. Then I found out he was talking a lot to mother and learned about the dress and the wig. After that, it wasn't hard to twig his game. But I never thought as he'd murder the old cove," said Bottles, shivering. "I turned sick in the wood when I saw that knife go in." "Oh, by the way, Bottles, Mrs. Tesk told me that she dismissed you for stealing the knife." "Yes, she did, sir. She said as I'd taken other things. But it was Amelia, I was engaged to, as stole the things, and I couldn't give her away. But I ain't going to make her my wife, sir," said Bottles seriously. "She ain't what she should be in the way of honesty."