"It is a strange story," said Basil, "but less strange than the story I have to relate. We have both experienced the pangs of hunger and solitude, with wealth and luxury all around us. What chiefly interests me is your adventure in Bournemouth. Emily, you said, is the name of Annette's maid?"
"Do you know the name of the street in which she lives?"
"If we were in Bournemouth, you could take me to the house?"
"We will go there to-morrow; there will be little sleep for us to-night, Corrie. As regards Annette do you draw any conclusions about her character--for the Child and the woman are frequently at odds with one another--from the incident of the bird?"
"I do; Master Basil. I draw the sign of constancy. None but a constant nature would have kept the bird so long, would have valued it so long, would have taught it new words.
"Yes, Master Basil. If it said 'dear Basil' once, it said it twenty times while the woman and I were talking. When I gave the bird to little lady it couldn't say 'dear,' so she must have taught the lesson with her own pretty lips. A straw will tell which way the wind blows."
"Thank you, Corrie. When you have heard me out you will understand what all this means to me." The recital of his adventures occupied him over an hour, and Corrie listened with bent brows and without a single word of interruption. His pipe went out, and he made no attempt to relight it; the only movement he made was to turn his head occasionally, as though something Basil had just said had inspired a new thought. Basil brought his narrative down to this very night, and paused only when he came to where Old Corrie accosted him at the street door. "What do you think of it, Corrie?" he asked, when he had finished. "It is wonderful," said Corrie. "My story is but a molehill by the side of your mountain. There's no time to lose, Master Basil; a day, an hour, may be precious, if little lady is to be saved."
"No time shall be lost," said Basil; "an hour's rest in our clothes after we've done talking, and at daybreak we are off to see how soon and how quickly we can get to Bournemouth. There is a question I haven't asked you. How long is it since you were in Bournemouth?"
"It must be six months, quite; but I kept no account of time. What a fool I was not to go back and see Emily Crawford!"