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Upon Elvin Lauriston's hasty departure from home which Lida had witnessed, he rode straight to Young John Marley's. Riding into the wide yard of the Marley home, he found Young John sitting on the veranda. Without dismounting he beckoned to Marley.

"Come here, John," he bade.

Marley leisurely left his seat and approached the horseman. "What's the trouble?" he asked. "You look as if you had buried your last friend," he commented.

"I want you to come with me to Orangeburg," Elvin explained.

"What tonight?" the astonished Marley asked. "Why, man, it's going to rain before morning."

"That won't matter. 'Twon't be the first time you've been out in the rain, will it?" Elvin inquired.

"Yes, but what's the rush? Won't tomorrow do?" he parried.

"No, tomorrow won't do. We've got to get there tonight so's I can look up some records first thing in the morning. Aunt Sally Gorton's made some statements about my family that I want to look up. If they're not so, woman or no woman, she'll answer to me for them," explained Elvin.

"If you take my advice you'll not go digging into the past and let Aunt Sally rave. I don't know what she said but there's a chance that what she said might be true. She's a wise old bird, she is," he advised.