"That will not save you," replied Morley; "you are a principal, they are only accessories."
"I will not go near any of them," exclaimed the boy suddenly--"I will not go near any of them."
"Well, then, keep your resolution," rejoined Morley, "and you will do well. I pledge myself for your safety, as well as Colonel Lieberg, if you go to him to-morrow; but if you fail, I tell you as he has done, I abandon you from that moment, and will take no farther interest in you. Do you know where he lives?"
The young man replied in the affirmative, and took up his hat as if to depart, but then looked hesitatingly, first at Morley, and then at Lieberg, and then at Morley again. At length, however, he said, addressing the latter--"But I wanted to speak with you, Sir Morley--can't I have a word with you for a minute?"
Morley caught the quick eye of Lieberg glancing from the boy's face to his, and he replied at once: "If what you want to say refers to this business, it must be said to Colonel Lieberg, not to me, for upon him alone does your fate depend--or, at least, it must be said in his presence."
"It is not about that at all," answered the youth; "it is something which nobody has anything to do with, but you and I."
"Let him speak with you--let him speak with you, Morley," said Lieberg; "I am going to make a call on the other side of the square, and will be back with you again in ten minutes."
Thus saying, he left the room, and, the young man, after gazing in Morley's face for a few moments, demanded, abruptly--"Pray, where is my sister, sir?"
"Your sister is quite safe," replied Morley, in a calm tone, "and under the protection of those who will take care that no harm happens to her."
"That is to say, under yours, I suppose," said William Barham, looking at him with a keen and eager glance; "but I'll tell you what, sir, if such is the case, I think I have a right to ask, that you should settle something upon her, that she may not come to poverty too."