Page:Waylaid by Wireless - Balmer - 1909.djvu/157

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A PREFERENCE FOR BLIND BELIEF

"Well, Mrs. Varris," the young American smiled, "as I told Mr. Dunneston this morning when he asked me much the same thing, I have not been jailed yet."

"Mr. Dunneston? You saw him this morning?" the girl queried with interest. "So he is here in Plymouth, too?"

"Please, Ethel!" Mrs. Varris silenced the interruption. "But you cannot deny, Mr. Preston," she went on, "that you have been inconvenienced many times. And do you know, so far are the police at a loss for the real thief and committed to the absurd mistake concerning you which we led them into at Ely, that if you try to leave England now they probably will arrest and jail you?"

"Oh, yes, Mrs. Varris," the American tried to return lightly. "Mr. Dunneston warned me of that. In fact, he told me that they have not yet arrested me because they think, if they leave me alone a little longer, I will do something a little more bold and they can catch me, at last, with proof."

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