“Of course. But I was so sure of him,� said Mr. Blair. Then he asked impatiently: “Why doesn’t he tell where he goes and why?�
“Because he doesn’t want to,� said Mrs. Blair. “He thinks people haven’t any right to ask, and so he won’t tell.�
“But he ought to tell,� said Mr. Blair. “Of course it’s all right; we know that. But some people—— Dog-gone it!� he said vehemently. “I wish I had knocked Andrews down when he came drawling his ‘suspicions’ to me. I will beat the scoundrel to a pulp if he comes in my store with another question. Of course Mayo’s all right.�
“Of course!� said his wife, more vehemently than absolute certainty required. “I—I wonder why—what—he wouldn’t tell you.�
“Whatever Black Mayo does is right,� Mrs. Wilson said serenely. “He has some good reason for silence.�
“Of course!� “Of course!� Mr. and Mrs. Blair said, avoiding her eyes and each other’s.
“I know about it,� Dick thought, with a thrill of pride. “It is all right. It was Kuno Kleist.� Kuno Kleist! He remembered with dismay Mr. Blair’s words, “A German, an alien enemy he’s concealing.� Why, that was what Kuno Kleist was, and for his Cousin Mayo to hide him was not “all right,� in the eyes of the law, but a crime. “They’ll never find out from me,� said Dick to himself, gritting his teeth. “I’ll be hanged and drawn and quartered, like men in ‘The Days of Bruce,’ before I’ll tell anything to get Cousin Mayo in trouble.�
“Black Mayo feels—oh! we know how he feels,� said Mrs. Wilson. “But in these times there are things we owe to ourselves, and to others. Mayo ought to tell about his perfectly proper journeys and perfectly proper guest, and I am going to ask him.�
“Agnes!�
“I know. I never thought I would interfere, would ask a question about any one’s private affairs,� she said. “But I can’t help it. I am going to do it. I must. Black Mayo suspected of treason! Black Mayo that we’ve known and loved all our lives! Why, it is as if some one should say my Ruth was a thief.�