"Where has she gone? Where else but to sea in the 'Merry Andrew,' with your false friend Joshua Marvel? And the knowledge of it has killed her father!"
"It is false!" cried Dan in a clear ringing voice. "It is false, you bad sister!"
"It is true, Daniel Taylor," said Solomon Fewster in his smooth oily voice. "I have here a letter from a sailor on board the 'Merry Andrew,' informing me that Minnie and Joshua are on the same ship."
At this corroborative testimony, Susan fell upon her knees, and raised her arms.
"Curse that false friend!" she cried.
But Ellen fell at her side, exclaiming, "O Susan, Susan, restrain your tongue! For all our sakes--for my sake! He is my husband!"
Whereat Solomon Fewster, upon whose face there had hitherto been an ill-concealed expression of triumph, crushed the letter he held in his hand, and muttered a bitter curse.
And Dan, folding Ellen in his arms, said,--
"Hush, my sister, hush! Blessings on your wedding-ring! Blessings on your husband and my true friend! We shall live to see him give the lie to slanderous tongues. I have something to live for now--to defend the honor of my brother!"