“Tell me, then!”
Within his cabin, old Captain Briggs clutched his hands together in agony. But still he held himself that he might stand there and hear this revelation to the end.
“I will tell you, Laura. The money—there’s only one place where it could have come from.”
“The captain? He gave it to him?”
“It came from the captain, but not as a gift.”
“You—don’t mean—”
“It’s terribly hard to speak that word, Laura, isn’t it?” pitied the old doctor. “Yet the money’s gone from the captain’s safe. Ezra accuses himself, but that’s mere nonsense. Every finger of certainty points to Hal Briggs as a thief. And not only an ordinary thief, but one who’s taken advantage of every bond of confidence and affection, most brutally to betray the man who loves him better than life itself!”
“Oh, you—you can’t mean that—”
“I’m afraid I can’t mean anything else. Hal’s up-stairs now, unless he’s already gone. He’s trying to escape before the captain wakes up.”
“And you’re not going to stop him?”