CHAPTER IV
Cut and Thrust
JOHN DRYSDALE accompanied the other men to town in the morning, not that he cared to be with either of them, for his indignation at what he considered Delroy’s laxness had not in the least diminished, and his distrust of Tremaine had grown stronger with the passing hours; but the prospect of a day alone in the house was intolerable, and he felt that Grace Croydon would wish to avoid him till the hour of explanation was at hand.
Indeed, the sudden antagonism he had developed toward Delroy would have suggested a permanent return to town had not a point of honour, as it were, compelled him to stay. He could not, at this moment, desert Grace Croydon to the machinations of Tremaine; he must save her if he could, not only for his own sake, but for hers.
It was this gloomy meditation which occupied him on the trip in to the city, for his companions, immersed in the details of the day’s business, left him severely to himself. He bade them goodbye at the ferry, and, in a sort of desperation, went down to the Record office and asked for Godfrey. He felt that he was being swept into waters beyond his depth, that he needed a strong, cool hand to pluck him back to safety; but he found that Godfrey was out of town.
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