"At once!" the elder woman replied. "You will come with us, Mr. Preston?"
The American followed, and mechanically glanced over and approved the papers which he and Mrs. Varris and her daughter signed.
"I say, Miss Varris!" he heard Mr. Dunneston's voice greeting the girl as they moved away, "I say, but I knew, rather, that you were merely trying to worry me a bit yesterday. I knew, rather, you had met Mr. Preston before,—what?" he triumphed soberly. "And I say, Mr. Preston!" he offered his hand in frank apology to the young American. "I say, really, if Miss Varris here hadn't quite made me fancy she had merely met you upon the boat, I would not have connected you with these bobry burglaries a moment further. But really, you know, she quite convinced me of it, for a bit. So naturally enough, I say, wasn't it, I thought you might be doing the robbing?"
"Quite naturally, of course, Mr. Dunneston," Preston cut short the Englishman's congratulation grimly.
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