Jack Ryan knew, having had it proved by many circumstances, that his friend was a man of his word.

With him, a thing promised was a thing done.

Now, at the Irvine merry-making, nothing was wanting; neither song, nor dance, nor fun of any sort--nothing but Harry Ford.
The notice relative to James Starr, published in the papers, had not yet been seen by Ryan.

The honest fellow was therefore only worried by Harry's absence, telling himself that something serious could alone have prevented him from keeping his promise.

So, the day after the Irvine games, Jack Ryan intended to take the railway from Glasgow and go to the Dochart pit; and this he would have done had he not been detained by an accident which nearly cost him his life.