He weren't in no condition, sir--as you might put
it--when I left. But Mr. Collingwood, he says to me (I took a note,
sir, of the very words he used)"--the man pulled out a note-book from
his breast-pocket, and held it forward under the light--"'You go to
Sir Roderick,' he says, 'and tell him from me that the prodigal is
returned bearing his calf with him.'" The constable read it out
carefully, word by word. "I don't know what it means, sir; but that
was his message, and he said it twice over."
"There seems to be more in this than meets the eye," said I,
pondering the riddle.
"You wouldn't say so, sir, if you'd seen Hagan's," said he, retiring
with the last word and, on top of it, a genially open grin.
I was dressed in ten minutes or so, and we sped to Ensor Street.
There I found my young reprobate sober and cheerful and unabashed.
"Sorry to give you this trouble, old man," was his greeting.
"Sort of thing that happens when a fellow gets mixed up in politics."
"You shall tell me all about it," said I, "when we've gone through
the little formalities of release.
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