"By the way, what about the message Sanders gave you?"
"Oh," said Dick, "he didn't give it to me."
Staffer looked round as far as he was able, but dared not neglect his driving, and so missed Dick's grin.
"Oh, yes; but he had nothing to say. He didn't know what you wanted, because he hadn't heard from you. Anyway, that's what I understood."
The car had swung toward the edge of the road, and Staffer was occupied by the wheel for the next few moments, but Dick imagined that he and Williamson exchanged glances.
"Can you remember his exact remarks?" Staffer asked when he could turn again.
"I'm afraid not. Still, I think he expected you to send him something that hadn't come."
Staffer said nothing more, but Williamson put his hand into his pocket, and took out what appeared to be a time-table. A thin spire with a few white houses below it now stood out from the hillside two or three miles away, but Dick thought Williamson would not get out there. It would look significant after hearing his report, and he could get a train to Edinburgh farther on. Staffer said something that Dick could not hear, and the car raced through the village without slackening speed.
For a time the road ran southward beside the sparkling stream, and then wound round wide curves where woods rolled down the hollows of the hills, until, as they turned a corner, Galashield's factory chimneys rose about the waterside, and a haze of smoke floated across the valley. Staffer reduced speed as they ran in among the houses, and drove very slowly when they reached a sharp bend near the station.
"I want some oil," he said. "We'll stop here and get a tin."
He pulled up in front of a big red hotel, and they went into the smoking-room.
"It's a cold day for driving, and I don't think I'll go any farther," he remarked. "I want a few things that I can buy in the town, and I'll go on by the afternoon train."
"As you like," said Staffer. "Your place is off our way."
When Williamson left them, Dick turned to Staffer.
"I wonder if you would lend me a pound or two?" he asked.
"I might take the risk; but why do you want it?"
"Well," Dick said apologetically, "it's difficult to bring much money back when you go to Edinburgh; and if you don't mind I'll stop here. If Andrew and Whitney aren't in the neighborhood, I'll come on by train, but I expect to find them at Melrose or Abbotsford. You see, I felt rather shabby about leaving on the day they were coming home."