"If your Grace wishes --"
"Yes, yes, you had better go. Now, Mr. Holmes, what have
you to say?"
My friend waited until the door had closed behind the retreat-
ing secretary.
"The fact is, your Grace," said he, "that my colleague, Dr.
Watson, and myself had an assurance from Dr. Huxtable that a
reward had been offered in this case. I should like to have this
confirmed from your own lips."
"Certainly, Mr. Holmes."
"It amounted, if I am correctly informed, to five thousand
pounds to anyone who will tell you where your son is?"
"Exactly."
"And another thousand to the man who will name the person
or persons who keep him in custody?"
"Exactly."
"Under the latter heading is included, no doubt, not only
those who may have taken him away, but also those who con-
spire to keep him in his present position?"
"Yes, yes," cried the Duke, impatiently. "If you do your
work well, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, you will have no reason to
complain of niggardly treatment."
My friend rubbed his thin hands together with an appearance
of avidity which was a surprise to me, who knew his frugal
tastes.
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