My fear was growing every instant, till I felt that I must faint away with the force of it; but I stammered out:
"I don't want to meddle with you or to discover your secret; I want to find out if you are a safe companion for Winifred, and if you will help me in a plan I have in view."
"A plan?" he said wildly. "I knew it was so. A plan to take Winifred away, to undo all my work, to thwart the plans which I have had in my mind for years! Beware how you make the attempt—beware, I tell you!"
A sudden inspiration, perhaps from above, came to me, and I said as steadily as possible:
"It would be far better than making all these idle threats to confide in me and tell me as much or as little of your plans as you please. I am a stranger; I have no object in interfering in the affair, except that I am deeply interested in Winifred, and would do anything possible for her good. You love the little girl too, so there is common ground on which to work."
"God knows I do love her!" he cried fervently. "And if I could only believe what you say!"
He looked at me doubtfully—a long, searching look.
"You may believe it," I said, gaining confidence from his changed manner. Still, his eyes from under their shaggy brows peered into my face as he asked:
"You never read, perhaps, of the Lagenian mines?"—with a look of cunning crossing his face.
"In the lines of the poet only," I replied, surprised at the sudden change of subject and at the question.