“Until when?” Quest demanded.

The look of trouble had once more clouded the Professor’s face.  He shrugged his shoulders slightly.

“Until Craig’s father,” he admitted.  “I am afraid I must admit that we come upon a bad piece of family history here.  Silas Craig entered the service of my father in 1858, as under game-keeper.  Here we come upon the first black mark against the name.  He appears to have lived reputably for some years, and then, after a quarrel with a neighbour about some trivial matter, he deliberately murdered him, a crime for which he was tried and executed in 1867.  John Craig, his only son, entered our service in 1880, and, when I left England, accompanied me as my valet.”

There was a moment’s silence.  Quest shook his head a little reproachfully.

“Professor,” he said, “you are a scientific man, you appreciate the significance of heredity, yet during all this time, when you must have seen for yourself the evidence culminating against Craig, you never mentioned this—­this—­damning piece of evidence.”

The Professor closed the book with a sigh.

“I did not mention it, Mr. Quest,” he acknowledged, “because I did not believe in Craig’s guilt and I did not wish to further prejudice you against him.  That is the whole and simple truth.  Now tell me what you are going to do about his arrest?”

“Lenora and I are sailing to-morrow,” Quest replied.  “We are taking over the necessary warrants and shall bring Craig back here for trial.”

The Professor smoked thoughtfully for some moments.  Then he rose deliberately to his feet.  He had come to a decision.  He announced it calmly but irrevocably.

“I shall come with you,” he announced.  “I shall be glad of a visit to England, but apart from that I feel it to be my duty.  I owe it to Craig to see that he has a fair chance, and I owe it to the law to see that he pays the penalty, if indeed he is guilty of these crimes.  Is Miss Laura accompanying you, too?”

Quest shook his head.

“From what the surgeons tell us,” he said, “it will be some weeks before she is able to travel.  At the same time, I must tell you that I am glad of your decision, Professor.”

“It is my duty,” the latter declared.  “I cannot rest in this state of uncertainty.  If Craig is lost to me, the sooner I face the fact the better.  At the same time I will be frank with you.  Notwithstanding all this accumulated pile of evidence I feel in my heart the urgent necessity of seeing him face to face, of holding him by the shoulders and asking him whether these things are true.  We have faced death together, Craig and I. We have done more than that—­we have courted it.  There is nothing about him I can accept from hearsay.  I shall go with you to England, Mr. Quest.”

2.

The Professor rose from his seat in some excitement as the carriage passed through the great gates of Hamblin Park.  He acknowledged with a smile the respectful curtsey of the woman who held it open.