“I am not afraid of Justinian,” said Crispin, with supreme contempt.
“What is this secret?” asked Maurice quickly; “if it refers to me, I have a right to know it.”
“It does not refer to you,” replied Caliphronas mendaciously; “it concerns Justinian, and what it is you will learn before you are many days on Melnos.”
“I do not generally boast about myself,” said Maurice quickly, “but if you and your precious Justinian are up to any tricks, you will find me an awkward customer to deal with.”
“No harm is intended, Mr. Maurice.”
“Upon my word, sir, your insolence is unbounded,” said Roylands, sitting upright in his indignation. “I am going to make a tour of the Greek islands, yet you talk as if I were coming on a visit to you—being decoyed, as it were, into a robber’s cave. I don’t care two straws about your ‘no harm is intended,’ and you may be certain if there is any trouble it will be for you, not for me. Really,” continued Maurice, laughing at the comicality of the situation, “one would think we lived in the days of filibusters and buccaneers the way you talk.”
Caliphronas was not put out in the least by this speech, and, leaning back in his chair, looked at Maurice with a lazy smile.
“There is no pleasure without an element of danger,” he said coolly, placing his hands behind his head, “and you may have adventures before you leave Melnos.”
Struck by the significance of his tone, Maurice looked keenly at him, and then turned to Crispin with a puzzled air.
“My dear fellow, will you explain this riddle?”