"Insist!" repeated the young man, annoyed by the peremptory tone of his guardian.
"Yes. You owe it to me--your second father--to tell the truth. You owe it to your dead brother's memory--for assuredly Maurice was your brother."
David stared sullenly at the ground, but in a moment or two he lifted his head in a defiant manner.
"I owe you much more than I can ever repay," said he, in harsh tones. "All the same, Uncle Jen, I cannot reveal, even to you, what I know. If I did so, you would be the first to blame me."
"I don't understand you."
"I don't understand myself," said the young man, despondently, "save that I am the most miserable man alive."
"You must be, if you know who killed Maurice, yet refuse to confess," retorted Jen, with some heat. "Will you tell me the truth? I ask you for the last time."
"And I answer for the last time that the truth is not mine to tell," replied David, coldly. "If you doubt me question Etwald."
"What! that criminal?"
David looked up quickly.