“stray into the court. They examine the doorposts of number one, seeking the name they want. Not finding it at number one, they come to number two. On the hat of wanderer number two, the shorter one, I drop this pellet. Hitting him on the hat, I smoke serenely, and become absorbed in contemplation of the sky.”
Both the wanderers looked up towards the window; but, after interchanging a mutter or two, soon applied themselves to the doorposts below. There they seemed to discover what they wanted, for they disappeared from view by entering at the doorway. “When they emerge,” said Eugene, “you shall see me bring them both down”; and so prepared two pellets for the purpose.
He had not reckoned on their seeking his name, or Lightwood’s. But either the one or the other would seem to be in question, for now there came a knock at the door. “I am on duty tonight,” said Mortimer, “stay you where you are, Eugene.” Requiring no persuasion, he stayed there, smoking quietly, and not at all curious to know who knocked, until Mortimer spoke to him from within the room, and touched him. Then, drawing in his head, he found the visitors to be young Charley Hexam and the schoolmaster; both standing facing him, and both recognized at a glance.
“You recollect this young fellow, Eugene?” said Mortimer.
“Let me look at him,” returned Wrayburn, coolly. “Oh, yes, yes. I recollect him!”
He had not been about to repeat that former action of taking him by the chin, but the boy had suspected him of it, and had thrown up his arm with an angry start. Laughingly, Wrayburn looked to Lightwood for an explanation of this odd visit.
“He says he has something to say.”