CHAPTER XVI.
CAPTAIN CLAYTON COMES TO THE CASTLE.
"Well, my boy, how are you?" asked the Captain.
"There's nothing particularly the matter with me," said Florian.
"I suppose all this is troubling you?"
"All what? You mean about Pat Carroll. Of course it's troubling me. Nobody will believe a word that I say."
"But they do believe you now that you are telling the truth," said Edith.
"Do you hold your tongue, miss," said the boy, "I don't see why you should have so much to say about it."
"She has been your best friend from first to last," said the father. "If it had not been for Edith I would have turned you out of the house. It is terrible to me to think that a boy of mine should refuse to say what he saw in such a matter as this. You are putting yourself on a par with the enemies of your own family. You do not know it, but you are nearly sending me to the grave." Then there was a long pause, during which the Captain kept his eyes fixed on the boy's face. And Edith had moved round so as to seat herself close to her brother, and had taken his hand in hers.
"Don't, Edith," said the boy. "Leave me alone, I don't want to be meddled with," and he withdrew his hand.