Page 36 - A Jacobite Exile

"That is true enough, Sir Marmaduke," one of the others said. "The
question is: how long has this been going on?"

Sir Marmaduke looked at Charlie.

"I know nothing about it, sir. Till now, I have not had the slightest
suspicion of this man. It occurred to me, this afternoon, that it might be

possible for anyone to hear what was said inside the room, by listening at
the windows; and that this shrubbery would form a very good shelter for an

eavesdropper. So I thought, this evening I would take up my place here, to
assure myself that there was no traitor in the household. I had been here but
five minutes when the fellow stole quietly up, and placed his ear at the

opening of the casement, and you may be sure that I gave him no time to
listen to what was being said."

"Well, we had better go in," Sir Marmaduke said. "There is no fear of our
being overheard this evening.

"Charlie, do you take old Banks aside, and tell him what has happened, and

then go with him to the room where that fellow slept, and make a thorough
search of any clothes he may have left behind, and of the room itself.
Should you find any papers or documents, you will, of course, bring them

down to me."

But the closest search, by Charlie and the old butler, produced no results.
Not a scrap of paper of any kind was found, and Banks said that he knew
the man could neither read nor write.

The party below soon broke up, considerable uneasiness being felt, by all,

at the incident of the evening. When the last of them had left, Charlie was
sent for.

"Now, then, Charlie, let me hear how all this came about. I know that all
you said about what took place at the window is perfectly true; but, even

had you not said so, I should have felt there was something else. What was
it brought you to that window? Your story was straight-forward enough,