“That she has not,” cried Martin, interrupting him. “There 's not a line, not a word of her letter, I 'd not guarantee with all I 'm worth in the world.”
“In that case,” resumed the Captain, in the same indolent tone, “they must be in a sorry plight, and I think ought to cut and run as fast as they can. I know that's what we do in India; when the cholera comes, we break up the encampment, and move off somewhere else. Tell Mary, then, to advise them to keep out of 'the jungle,' and make for the hill country.'”
Martin stared at the speaker for some seconds, and it was evident how difficult he found it to believe that the words he had just listened to were uttered in deliberate seriousness.
“If you have read that letter, you certainly have not understood it,” said he at last, in a voice full of melancholy meaning.
“Egad, it's only too easy of comprehension,” replied the Captain; “of all things in life, there's no mistaking a demand for money.”
“Just take it with you to your own room, Harry,” said Martin, with a manner of more affection than he had yet employed. “It is my firm persuasion that when you have re-read and thought over it, your impression will be a different one. Con it over in solitude, and then come back and give me your advice.”
The Captain was not sorry to adopt a plan which relieved him so speedily from a very embarrassing situation, and, folding up the note, he turned and left the room.
There are a great number of excellent people in this world who believe that “Thought,” like “Écarté,” is a game which requires two people to play. The Captain was one of these; nor was it within his comprehension to imagine how any one individual could suffice to raise the doubts he was called on to canvass or decide. “Who should he now have recourse to?” was his first question; and he had scarcely proposed it to himself when a soft low voice said, “What is puzzling Captain Martin?—can I be of any service to him?” He turned and saw Kate Henderson.
“Only think how fortunate!” exclaimed he. “Just come in here to this drawing-room, and give me your advice.”
“Willingly,” said she, with a courtesy the more marked because his manner indicated a seriousness that betokened trouble.