Frank hesitated, although he also longed to look on the face of the girl he had saved. She was most beautifully formed for a girl of her age, and that her face was pretty he had not a doubt.
He reached out his hand to unfasten the mask. As he did so his wrist was clutched by strong fingers, and a panting voice hissed in his ear:
"Would you do it? Well, you shall not! I will take charge of that young lady, if you please!"
Looking over his shoulder, Frank saw the dark, excited face of a youth of twenty or twenty-one. That face was almost wickedly handsome, although there was something decidedly repellent about it. The eyes were black as midnight, while the lips were full and red.
With a twisting snap Frank freed his wrist.
"You?" he said, calmly—"who are you?"
"One who knows this unfortunate young lady, and has a right to protect her."
"Which is ver' true, sah," declared a man with a bristling white mustache and imperial, who stood just behind the youth with the dark face. "I give you my word of honah, sah, that it is true."
The words were spoken with great suavity and politeness, and Frank noted that the speaker seemed to have a military air.
Frank hesitated, and then straightened up, stepping back and bowing, as he said: