He delivered a written message from Ambrose which startled us.

Further inquiries had positively proved that the missing man had never been near Narrabee.

The only attainable tidings of his whereabouts were tidings derived from vague report.

It was said that a man like John Jago had been seen the previous day in a railway car, traveling on the line to New York.

Acting on this imperfect information, Ambrose had decided on verifying the truth of the report by extending his inquiries to New York.
This extraordinary proceeding forced the suspicion on me that something had really gone wrong.