'As soon as I set eye on 'ee,'
says I, 'That's him,' I says, and so 'twas."
He grinned again and slouched away and Dunn stood still, holding
the letter in his hand and not opening it at first. It was almost
as though he feared to do so, and when at last he tore the envelope
open it was with a hand that trembled a little in spite of all
that he could do. For there was something about this strange
communication and the means adopted to deliver it to him that struck
him as ominous in the extreme. Some sudden crisis must have arisen,
he thought, and it appeared to him that Ella's knowledge of where
to find him implied a knowledge of Deede Dawson's plans that meant
she was either his willing and active agent and accomplice, or else
she had somehow acquired a knowledge of her stepfather's proceedings
that must make her position a thousand times more critical and
dangerous than before.
He flung the envelope aside and began to read the contents. It
opened abruptly, without any form of address, and it was written in
a hand that showed plain signs of great distress and agitation:
"You are in great danger. I don't know what. I heard them talking.
They spoke as though something threatened you, something you could
not escape. Be careful, very careful. You asked me once if I had
ever heard a man with a high, squeaky voice, and I did not answer.
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