"Ay, sir. And, by what I've heard tell, he be about the worst of the whole lot of 'em, old or young!"
This certainly tallied with the experience Tregenna had had of the young ruffian, so he swallowed his annoyance as well as he could, and, turning again to the man, said shortly—
"And it's the old story, of course? Nobody knows anything about him, or where he lives, or anything that could help to put us on his track?"
The man appeared to glance about him cautiously, as if afraid that his reply might be overheard by some unseen person. Then he answered, in a low voice—
"Well, sir, they do say he's to be heard of somewheres about Rede Hall."
"Rede Hall?" echoed the lieutenant with interest.
For this was, he knew, the home of the artful Ann Price, of whose wiles he retained so vivid a remembrance.
"Ay, sir."
And then it crossed Tregenna's mind that this rascally lad must be some relation of Ann's, a younger brother, perhaps; for, looking back
