He was much pleased and gave me a
guinea, but borrowed it a week afterward, and--and still owes it."
George turned quickly to me, but, remembering that he was the Abbe du
Boise, said nothing. But I caught his meaning and, turning to Lilly,
asked:--
"Do you refer to the occasion of a certain kidnapping in which Hamilton
and I consulted you?"
"Yes," returned Lilly.
"And you allowed it to be carried out without telling us?" I asked
indignantly.
"I did not know who the lady was till you came to me for help," he
answered.
"And you were able to put us on the right track to find her because of
knowledge gained from the stars?" I asked, with a sharp note of sarcasm.
"No, no," he replied coolly. "Why trouble the stars for information that
may be had as easily and more definitely elsewhere?"
"Then why did you not tell us the true source of your knowledge?" I asked
warmly.
"Because I had neither right nor desire to betray the person most
actively engaged in the affair. To have done so might have cost me my
life. I gave you the information you asked, and you saved the lady
through my help, without which you would not have known where to turn.
You would have been helpless. You paid me ten guineas. Were my services
worth the fee?"
"Ah, richly," I returned, beginning to see the whole matter of astrology
in a new light.
"Then why do you complain?" he asked. "A man, naturally, wants to know
where his meat comes from, but knowledge, like a diamond, is good found
anywhere.
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