"I intend to give myself up," said Lancaster, determinedly. "Had I not been a moral coward I should have done so in the first instance. I am perfectly innocent of this crime, and I shall stand my trial."
But this proposition, as Frank anticipated, was not at all to the taste of Berry. He was about to object when his niece stopped him. With an engaging smile she came forward and took Frank's hand. "Listen to me, my dear," she said sweetly. "You were always my favourite, and I have loved you always. Promise to marry me, and you shall go free to enjoy the money."
"Along with you, I suppose?"
"Along with me," she answered, still smiling. "It is not hard."
"No, but it's impossible, I guess," said Berry, grimly. "I ain't going to let you and Fan skip with the dollars after all my trouble."
"And I'm not going to let Lancaster escape," chimed in Darrel. "I want to see him hanged."
"He shall never be hanged!" said Tamaroo, much agitated.
Eustace, who had his eye on the savage face of Balkis, suddenly addressed Miss Berry. "You say you love Lancaster?"
"I do. I have always loved him."
"That is untrue. You only want to marry him because you can't get the money in any other way. There is a chance, I see, of you three thieves falling out." He looked scornfully on Berry, Fan, and Darrel. "In that case an honest man, such as Lancaster is, may come by his own."