"It's only me, Marse Clem, with the breakfast things."
The captain stepped to the door, unlocked it, and admitted Margy with the breakfast tray, and then carefully locked it again.
As the woman drew nearer to Sybil, she began to stare in astonishment at the India shawl that lady wore around her shoulders.
"You know it, do you, Margy? Well, yes, you are right. It is the celebrated Pendleton shawl that the captain's great-grandfather brought away from the palace of the Rajah, at the siege of some unpronounceable place in Hindostan," smiled Sybil.
"That's it," laughed her host. "My great-grandfather, a captain in the British army, stole it from the Rajah, and Mr. Inconnu, a captain of banditti, took it from us!"
But Margy was much too dignified to relish such jokes at the expense of her master's family, even from her master's lips. She put the tray upon the stand and arranged the breakfast, all in stately silence.
Captain Pendleton, with old-fashioned hospitality, pressed his guests to their repast; and so Lyon Berners being propped up with pillows, and Sybil sitting in the easy-chair, with the stand placed between them, ate their breakfast together; not forgetting to feed little Nelly, who was certainly the most famished of the party.
When the breakfast was over, Margy went out with the tray, followed by Joe.
Mr. and Mrs. Berners being left alone with their host, the captain began to devise means first for her temporary concealment in the house, and afterwards for her successful removal to a seaport.
"I confess, Mrs. Berners," began the captain, "that when I saw you enter this room I was as much alarmed for your safety as astonished at your appearance. But since your servant has told me, and you have confirmed his story, that no one recognized you, either on the road or in the house, until you reached this room, my anxieties are allayed. The prevalent belief that you perished in the explosion at the Haunted Chapel has caused all pursuit of you to be abandoned for the present. And so long as we can keep you out of the sight of others than the few who have already seen you, you will be perfectly secure."