“I don’t know,” said Jimmy, “will he be expecting to stay the night at the hotel, for if he is there’s no place for him to sleep. There’s the doctor’s young lady has the big front room, and yourself and the other three ladies has all the rest of the bedrooms there is in it, and the like of a high-up man such as the Inspector-General will be looking for something better than a sofa in the drawing-room. I don’t know either is Bridgy fit to cook the sort of dinner he’d be accustomed to.” “I don’t care a straw where he sleeps. What I’m thinking about is the abominable fuss there’ll be when he arrives. One comfort is he won’t be able to find these wretched Members of Parliament any more than I can myself.” “He might, then,” said Jimmy hopefully. “He will not; but I tell you what he’ll do. He’ll find out about the doctor being gone and Patsy Devlin. Then he’ll come to the conclusion that there’s some sort of a conspiracy on foot in the country. He’ll draft in a lot of extra police, and he’ll have the life worried out of me. Look here, Jimmy, I can’t stand much more of this sort of thing to-day. You’ll have to keep those women off me somehow. I’ll count on you to do it. I shall go and shut myself up in the telegraph office along with Susy Lizzie, and if you let one of them in on me I’ll never forgive you. Let them fight it out with Sergeant Farrelly when he gets back. Let Cole try them with another stratagem if he likes. All I ask is to have them kept off me.” “I’ll do the best I can,” said Jimmy; “and if you send Susy Lizzie into the hotel any time, Bridgy’ll give her a cup of tea for you. You’ll be wanting it.” CHAPTER XXI