“I know, I know, and it complicates matters terribly.”
“Shall I go away, back to New York?”
“That would be the best plan, but I know you won’t do it.”
“No,” I said, “I won’t do it.”
“Then, if you stay here, I mean, if you stay with us, you’ve got to play fair.”
“Fair by you or fair by Alma?”
“Both. Don’t think, boy, that I don’t understand. But I can’t have my work blocked by your interference. Heretofore, you’ve been a help on my cases——”
“But this is different!” I cried.
“Yes, this is different. So, since you won’t go back to New York, and I don’t want you to stay at Deep Lake under any other roof but ours, what’s the answer?”
Putting it up to me like this, I couldn’t combat him or even rebuff him. He was playing fair, all his cards on the table. I must in all honour and justice do likewise. “It would be horrid,” I said, at last, “to stay here at the Inn, or anything like that. And I can’t—Oh, Kee, I can’t go back to New York. But I most certainly propose to play the game. Now, I can only say that if I learn anything further about Alma that I think you want to know, I will tell you, and, on the other hand, if you learn anything, you must tell me.”