'Well!' said Hugh. 'What's that to me?'
'Much. A great deal,' replied the secretary. 'Read it.'
'I told you, the first time I saw you, that I couldn't read,' said Hugh,
impatiently. 'What in the Devil's name's inside of it?'
'It is a proclamation from the King in Council,' said Gashford, 'dated
to-day, and offering a reward of five hundred pounds--five hundred
pounds is a great deal of money, and a large temptation to some
people--to any one who will discover the person or persons most active
in demolishing those chapels on Saturday night.'
'Is that all?' cried Hugh, with an indifferent air. 'I knew of that.'
'Truly I might have known you did,' said Gashford, smiling, and folding
up the document again. 'Your friend, I might have guessed--indeed I did
guess--was sure to tell you.'
'My friend!' stammered Hugh, with an unsuccessful effort to appear
surprised. 'What friend?'
'Tut tut--do you suppose I don't know where you have been?' retorted
Gashford, rubbing his hands, and beating the back of one on the palm of
the other, and looking at him with a cunning eye. 'How dull you think
me! Shall I say his name?'
'No,' said Hugh, with a hasty glance towards Dennis.
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