"As if money counted, Jimmie boy!" cried the girl fondly.
"I know. But it angered me, I admit. However, nothing more came of that. And as for her finding fault with me about my electric lathe, and about the money she owed me—well, that was a sort of periodic disagreement."
"Tell the colonel all about it."
"I will. And are you sure your father—"
"Dad's with me in this—with me and you! He'd have come to see you himself to-day, but I said I wanted to see you first. He'll be along soon. So you see, Jimmie boy, things aren't so bad as they seem, though I hate it that you should be in this horrible place."
"It is horrible, Amy. But now that I know you—you haven't given me up—"
"Don't dare say such a thing, Jimmie boy!" and the girl's eyes sparkled with a new light.
"Well, it won't be so horrible from now on. And is the colonel really going to take my case?"
"Really and truly! I told him he had to if he wanted to fish in dad's trout stream," and she laughed—a strange sound in that gloomy place.
Then they talked about many things. James Darcy had read much of Colonel Ashley's achievements in detective work, and the very magic of the name was enough to give a prisoner courage.