“And I asked you why?” Gees insisted.
Stukeley shook his head. “I’m workin’ for Squire Hunter,” he said, “so it ain’t for me to say why. But I do say— that much.”
Loyalty to his employer, evidently, held him from saying more. With his thumbs still stuck in his belt, he gazed past Gees at the exit from the roadway: was it there that he looked for the reason behind his warning? Yet his face was expressionless as ever, his eyes unlighted.
“Having said that much,” Gees suggested placidly, “perhaps you will now let me see over the house, as I asked at first.” Momentarily he wondered if the man would ask for some order to view, or other document authorising him to conduct a stranger, but Stukeley did not appear to think of such a thing. He drew back a step.
“All right,” he said. “There ain’t
