Vandewater looked at Mr. Brown, and the latter raised his eye-brows and slowly shook his head. The grimace was not observed by Monteagle, whose thoughts were with the young lady beneath the cliff.
‘You will observe, Mr. Monteagle,’ said Brown, in a very gentle and yet distinct tone, ‘that a heavy robbery has been committed. An atrocious malefactor is found asleep in the store that has been robbed; a letter, evidently dropped by him bears your address upon its back. If he is taken and brought to trial, of course that letter will be needed.’
‘So far I can satisfy your curiosity,’ said Monteagle. ‘It appears that Jamie was employed as messenger to bring me this letter. It is probable that he came here drunk and fell asleep.’
‘That seems to account fully for the man’s presence. It is as I thought, that he is guiltless of the robbery,’ said Vandewater.
Brown compressed his lips, partly nodded, partly shook his head, raised his eye-brows, and turned away, like a man who is only half convinced, and who has made some discovery that he hesitates to unfold.
At supper that evening, Julia Vandewater was as gracious as usual; but when he arose to go abroad, she said to him as he passed the door, ‘You keep very late hours, Sir Lorenzo; I must take you in charge, myself.’
Although this was said in a tone of raillery, yet there was the slightest possible air of reproof in it, enough to make Monteagle feel that the deluded girl considered herself entitled to express an opinion upon his conduct.
As he travelled over the hills towards the town, the youth said to himself—‘Would it be more cruel to break this bubble at once, or suffer it to collapse of itself in due time? Surely a flame that is never fed won’t burn long, and I have given Julia not the least reason to suppose that I regarded her with partiality.’
He had arrived at a thick clump of bushes, at a considerable distance from any house though a small rancho was in plain sight, when he heard something stir among the leaves and branches. He drew out his revolver.
‘Will you shoot me?’ inquired a silver voice, and in another moment, Maria stood before him.