"I saw him on my way home," replied Mark. "I had already seen him,
before the tragedy on Dartmoor, and I remembered him. What is more,
I'm not sure that he didn't remember me."
"We are in fear," continued Doria. "He has not been yet to his
brother, but he is near."
"How can you tell that he is near, if he has not yet been to his
brother?"
"Thus we know it. I go every morning early to Strete Farm on the
hills above us for milk and butter. I go this morning and they have
an ugly story. Last night a man entered Strete Farm and took food
and drink. The farmer hears him and comes upon him sitting eating in
the kitchen--a big man with a red head and a red mustache and a red
waistcoat. The man, when he sees Mr. Brook--that is the farmer--he
bolts through the back kitchen by which he has come. Mr. Brook knows
nothing of the man and he tells me of his adventure, and then I go
home to tell padron mio--my master.
"When I describe this man, Mr. Redmayne and Madonna nearly have a
fit between them. They recognize him--he is the assassin! They think
instantly of you and bid me take my bicycle and ride here at my best
speed to catch you, if it may be done before you go. I succeed, but
I cannot stay with you; I must return to keep guard. I do not like
to feel there is nobody there. My old sea wolf is not frightened of
the sea, but I think he is a little frightened of his brother. And
Mrs. Jenny--she is very frightened indeed."
"Come to breakfast," said Mark, whose toilet was now completed.
"I'll get a motor in a quarter of an hour and run out as quick as
may be."
They swallowed a hasty meal and Giuseppe displayed growing
excitement. He begged Brendon to bring other policemen with him, but
this Mark declined to do.
"Plenty of time for that," he said. "We may catch him easy enough. I
shall do nothing until I have seen Mr. Bendigo at 'Crow's Nest' and
heard his views. If Robert Redmayne is breaking into houses for
food he must be at the end of his tether."
By nine o'clock the Italian had started homeward, and as soon as he
was gone, Brendon went to the police station, borrowed a revolver
and a pair of handcuffs, hinted at his business, and ordered a
police car to be ready as quickly as possible. A constable drove him
and before setting out he told the local chief of police, one
Inspector Damarell, to await a message over the telephone in the
course of the morning. He enjoined strictest secrecy for the
present.
Mark overtook and passed Doria on his way home. The storm had nearly
blown itself out and the morning was clear and cold. Beneath the
cliffs a big sea rolled, but it was fast going down.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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