作者：John FinnemoreJohn Jellicoe 字数：10.4万字

Jack was on fire to be off to Brindisi and see what was wrong.He made short work of his packing, and within an hour he wasdriving to Longhampton to catch the London express. He caught itwith scarcely two minutes to spare, and was soon whirling towardsthe great city. A short distance from Longhampton, he caught aglimpse of Rushmere School in the distance on its hill, and thestrip of heath country running up to the foot of the slope. Thisbrought to mind his adventure, which remained as mysterious anaffair as ever. The police had been most active, stations had beenwatched, inquiries had been made in every direction, but all to noresult. The Thugs had vanished and left no trace behind. But thethought of his encounter on the heath soon faded from Jack's mind.It was crushed out by the pressing question of the moment. What wasthe matter at Brindisi? Why had Risley cabled and not his father?Had something happened to his father? Jack felt wretchedly uneasy,for he and his father were bound together by no ordinary ties ofaffection.In the first place, he had, as far as he knew, no other livingrelation. His mother had been dead for many years, and his fatherwas the only close friend that Jack knew. Then the elder Haydon hadalways been a great hero in his son's eyes. His profession ofmining engineer had carried him into many wild corners of theworld, and the store of marvellous tales which he would pour forthfor the boy's delight had made Jack's holidays a time of intensepleasure. Mr. Haydon had always made a point, if it was possible,of keeping himself free for such times, and he and Jack had spentthe weeks joyously, until the day for return to school had become aBlack Monday indeed in the boy's eyes.

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