"
"No need. I know all that story," he said gravely. "That is what I
couldn't forgive in Ban. That he should have betrayed Miss Van Arsdale,
his oldest friend. That is the unpardonable treachery."
"To save me," said Io.
"Not even for that. He owed more to her than to you."
"I can't believe that he did it!" she wailed. "To use my letter to set
spies on Cousin Billy and ruin him--it isn't Ban. It isn't!"
"He did it, and, when it was too late, he tried to stop it."
"To stop it?" She looked her startled query at him. "How do you know
that?"
"Last week," explained Edmonds, "Judge Enderby's partner sent for me. He
had been going over some papers and had come upon a telegram from
Banneker urging Enderby not to leave without seeing him. The telegram
must have been delivered very shortly after the Judge left for the
train."
"Telegram? Why a telegram? Wasn't Ban in town?"
"No. He was down in Jersey. At The Retreat."
"Wait!" gasped Io. "At The Retreat! Then my letter would have been
forwarded to him there. He couldn't have got it at the same time that
Cousin Billy got the one I sent him." She gripped Russell Edmonds's
wrists in fierce, strong hands. "What if he hadn't known in time? What
if, the moment he did know, he did his best to stop Cousin Billy from
starting, with that telegram?" Suddenly the light died out of her face.
Pages:
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781