Page:The Whisper on the Stair by Lyon Mearson (1924).djvu/315



the cottage Val’s place in the affair was explained to old Peter Pomeroy, and the man who had returned to the world nodded with gratitude at him, charmingly grateful for Val’s assistance to his daughter. Pomeroy also explained, in brief, his own movements. He had been released from the asylum and had come East instantly, his first visit being to Virginia to see whether or not the money was still there.

He came at night—that’s when his train landed him—and discovered that his daughter was down here, and Teck, and that things were happening. It was he whom Val had seen in the lightning, and it was he who had cut Val loose. It was his sibilant whisper of warning Val had heard down the stairs. The young man had seemed to be on the friendly side, but he was unfamiliar with the developments, and he did not wish to take the chance of disclosing himself until he knew exactly what was occurring down here, in his supposed absence.

He wished to discover just what it was Teck was attempting to do—this he discovered, of course. He would have disclosed himself to his daughter, but had Rh