Carter whistled. "I've been a blind ass, and I must say I did refuse to listen to the highfalutin' nonsense Cascaes wanted to pour into my sympathetic ear. How often have you seen him here in Grand Canary?"
"He has called every day."
"That's not answering my question."
"George, dear, give me credit for loyalty. He told me one day when you were building that fort at Mokki that he liked me, and that if the Okky-men came he would die cheerfully before any harm should come to me; and I told him that he had no right to say such things to a girl who was engaged to you."
"Why wasn't I told of this?"
"Because he said to me he had nearly shot you once, and I was afraid that if there was any trouble, dear, you might be hurt."
"You could have trusted me," said Carter dryly, "to keep my end up with a dago like that. Besides, if you'd given me the tip, I could have seen to it that I had the drop on him first."
Laura shivered. "You are rather mediæval. I don't want to be fought for."
"Still, I gather from what you say that you've been seeing the fellow here?"
"Never when I could help it. Each day I've refused to see him when he came to the house. But he has waited for me when I went out into the country, and once he was here in the garden, sitting on this very seat, when I came out after lunch."