"And the virtuous cousin," he said. "What a fall is there, is there not? A hundred dollars! He actually appraised my poor liberty so high!"
For a moment the expression in her glance changed as she turned it in the direction of the still struggling horses and their riders. He saw it and laughed again.
"You divide your anxieties," he said. "Let me relieve you of one!"
He stretched out his hand and laid it gently upon his son's shoulder. "Are you coming with your father—to ride the black horse upon the sands?" he asked.
The child looked at him debatingly. His face lit up at the question, and then shadowed again as he turned his glance upon the motionless white figure on the mule beside him.
"Auntie won't have it—and Selim," he deplored.
"Won't they?" said Landon, good-humoredly. "I think they will."
He stared up in the girl's face with insolent satisfaction.
"In fact," he went on, "they've got to. Vulgarly, my boy, they may not like it, so they must lump it."
He made a gesture of command.