She did not answer these reproaches for some moments. Then suddenly she turned upon Mortimer.
“Even if the High President hadn’t given such orders, do you think I would bring you and ‘Black Hawk’ Henry face to face after what has happened? Colonel Henry is furious. You throttled him before his men and on top of that he was severely reprimanded by the High President for his treatment of prisoners.”
“How about the insult to me—the cause of it all?” Mortimer asked.
“I don’t know anything about that,” she answered, “but I’m not so foolish as to bring burning oil and gunpowder together! Won’t father do as well?” she asked in conclusion.
“No!” Mortimer hastened to answer.
“Will anybody else?”
“Oh, yes; anybody else will do, if he doesn’t come direct from Captain Robert,” Mortimer assured her.
“I don’t see how it can be managed,” she said.
For a moment they were both in despair. Then Mortimer spoke up.
“You’ve been very kind to us,” he began, “and we’re indebted to you for many favors. Believe me, we both of us appreciate and are grateful to you from the bottom of our hearts.”