CHAPTER XXIII.
The summer evening was well advanced when Mr.Kybird and his old friend parted.

The former gentleman was in almost a sentimental mood, and the boarding-master, satisfied that his pupil was in a particularly appropriate frame of mind for the object of his visit, renewed his instructions about binding Mr.Silk to secrecy, and departed on business of his own.
[Illustration: "Mr.Kybird and his old friend parted."] Mr.Kybird walked slowly towards Fullalove Alley with his head sunk in meditation.

He was anxious to find Mr.Silk alone, as otherwise the difficulty of his errand would be considerably increased, Mrs.Silk's intelligence being by no means obscured by any ungovernable affection for the Kybird family.

If she was at home she would have to invent some pretext for luring Teddy into the privacy of the open air.
The lamp was lit in the front room by the time he reached the house, and the shadows of geraniums which had won through several winters formed a straggling pattern on the holland blind.

Mr.Kybird, first making an unsuccessful attempt to peep round the edges of this decoration, tapped gently on the door, and in response to a command to "Come in," turned the handle and looked into the room.