“And unhappily I must refuse.”
“Oh, Mr. Weir, if you could but understand what this involves for me, you wouldn’t hesitate! I was shocked at the shooting, but I saw its necessity on your part; you’re not one to run from a foe, a cowardly foe least of all. But what I heard there in the street horrified me. I couldn’t believe it; I can scarcely credit my 71 ears yet. Mr. Sorenson and Mr. Burkhardt were not near when you were attacked; they are not acquainted with the circumstances or facts as you, Mr. Martinez and I know them; they apparently didn’t appear until the crowd started away with the dead man. Yet at once–––”
“Ay, at once,” Steele Weir let slip.
“At once, immediately, when they had barely heard the story, they began to tear it to pieces and suggest another, making you out a villain. You’re only an acquaintance, sir, scarcely more than a stranger, but as I listened it outraged all my sense of justice. Mr. Sorenson, of all men! My brain was in a whirl. But it’s steady now.”
The engineer failed to open his lips at her pause.
“I’m no fool, Mr. Weir; I think of other things besides dressing my hair and using a powder puff. I can sometimes put two and two together––when I see the ‘twos’ clearly. Now, tell me why Mr. Sorenson talked as he did, for I must have my eyes clear.”
“Ask me anything but that, Miss Hosmer.”
He sat distressed and uneasy at her prolonged muteness. Suddenly she questioned quietly:
“Are those two men the enemies you spoke of?”
“It will save me embarrassment if I go,” he remarked, starting to rise. “I don’t want you to hate me, you know, and still I can’t say anything.”