Then he strolled across the room and looked down into the street, whistling softly.
"I think--I think--I'll go home and get out of these motoring clothes.
And I should like to have on a pair of boots that were a trifle less muddy," he said slowly.
M.Gournay-Martin sat up with a jerk and cried, "For Heaven's sake, don't you go and desert me, my dear chap! You don't know what my nerves are like!" "Oh, you've got that sleuth-hound, Guerchard, and the splendid Formery, and four other detectives, and half a dozen ordinary policemen guarding you.

You can do without my feeble arm.

Besides, I shan't be gone more than half an hour--three-quarters at the outside.

I'll bring back my evening clothes with me, and dress for dinner here.

I don't suppose that anything fresh will happen between now and midnight; but I want to be on the spot, and hear the information as it comes in fresh.