“I'll not dispute local knowledge with you, sir,” said Repton, peevishly. “Let us turn back at once. Where's Mr. Massingbred? I saw him standing on the hill yonder a few minutes ago; maybe, he 's strolling along the road in front.” Repton moved forward to a rising spot of ground, from whence a wide view extended for a distance on every side, but no trace of Massingbred could be discovered. “What can have become of him?--has he turned towards Cro' Martin?” asked Repton. “There he is,” cried Scanlan, suddenly; “there he is, walking with Magennis. They're taking the short cut over the hills to Oughterard--that's unfortunate, too!” “How so?” “Why, before they're in the town they'll be as thick as two pickpockets--see how they 're talking! I think, if I was to drive on, I'd catch them before they entered the town.” “Do so, then, Scanlan. Say that a sudden message from Mr. Martin recalled me, but that you'll drive him back with you to Cro' Martin.” “Am I to allude to the contents of the note, sir?” “I think not; I opine it's best not to speak of it. Say, however, that something of importance has occurred at Cro' Martin, and suggest to him that the sooner he returns thither the better.” There was an amount of vacillation and uncertainty about Repton's manner as he uttered these few words that showed not only how gravely he regarded the crisis, but how totally unprepared he found himself for the emergency. Not so Scanlan, who took his seat once more on his lofty “buggy,” and was soon spinning along the road at a pace of full twelve miles the hour. As Repton drove back to Cro' Martin, he thought once, and not without humiliation, of his late lessons in statecraft to young Massingbred. “To fancy that I was instilling all these precepts at the very moment that he was countermining us. The young villain is a worthy son of his father! And how he will laugh at me, and make others laugh too! It will never do to drive him into opposition to us. Martin must consent to make the best of it, now, and accept him as his member,--for the present, at least. With time and good opportunity we can manage to trip up his heels, but, for the moment, there's no help for it.” And with these not very consoling reflections he entered once more the grounds of Cro' Martin Castle. Let us now turn to Massingbred, as, accompanied by Magennis, he walked at a rapid pace towards Oughterard. It needed but a glance at the figures, and the rate at which they moved, to see that these two men were bent upon an object. “Don't you see the town now before you?” said Magennis. “It's not much above two miles, and by the road it is every step of six, or six and a half; and if we walk as we're doing now, we'll be there at least twenty minutes before them.” “But what will Repton think of my leaving him in this fashion?” “That it was a bit of your usual eccentricity,--no more,” said the other, laughing. “You are quite certain of what you've just told me?” asked Jack, after a pause.