11
If you go on like this,” said S. Gedge Antiques, after a pause, full of drama, “you will have to have a cold compress put on your head. Do you mean to tell me you have actually found the signature?”
“Yes, sir,” said William, “right down in the corner about half an hour ago.”
“Then why didn’t you say so instead of keeping it all to yourself?”
“Because it doesn’t seem half so important as the other things I’ve found.”
“What other things?”
“The trees and the water and that——”
“We’ve heard more than enough about those. Here have you been rubbing for that signature for the best part of a fortnight, and you pretend to have found a Van Roon, and you keep it as close as the tomb.”
“I had found Van Roon, sir, long before I came upon his name.”
“Rubbish! What do you know of Van Roon?”
“
