He followed me
down stairs and let me out at the side door. There he said, 'I'll escort
you to the front gate, if you will permit me, miss. I usually lock the
gate about this time.' I thought nothing of this because he had come with
me to the front gate before. He followed me down the garden path through
the plantation till we reached the front gate. He opened the gate for me
and I said 'Good night, Hill,' but instead of his replying 'Good night,
Miss Fanning,' as he usually did, he hissed out like a serpent, 'You tell
Birchill I want to see him to-morrow, and I'll come to the flat about 9
o'clock. Tell him an old friend named Field wants to see him. Don't
forget the name--Field!' Then he locked the gate and was gone before I
could speak a word.
"I gave Fred his message next morning--I wish to God that I hadn't," she
continued. "I asked Fred not to keep the appointment, but he insisted on
doing so. He said that he and Field had been good friends in the gaol,
and that Field had told him that if he ever got on to anything he would
let him know. He seemed quite pleased at the idea of meeting Field again.
I told him to beware that Field wasn't laying a trap for him, but he
wouldn't listen to me.
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