St.George contented himself with walking past the house, for the mere assurance that the place existed dictated his next step.
This was to write a note to Mrs.Medora Hastings, Miss Holland's aunt.

The note set forth that for reasons which he would, if he might, explain later, he was interested in the woman who had recently made an attempt upon her niece's life; that he had seen the woman and had obtained an address which he was confident would lead to further information about her.

This address, he added, he preferred not to disclose to the police, but to Mrs.Hastings or Miss Holland herself, and he begged leave to call upon them if possible that day.

He despatched the note by Rollo, whom he instructed to deliver it, not at the desk, but at the door of Mrs.
Hastings' apartment, and to wait for an answer.

He watched with pleasure Rollo's soft departure, recalling the days when he had sent a messenger boy to some inaccessible threshold, himself stamping up and down in the cold a block or so away to await the boy's return.
Rollo was back almost immediately.