"And you fainted, and this man came across you while you were insensible—eh? Who is he? and what was it that led him from his carriage, along the street where he found you?"
"An impulse, or presentiment, as he told me, which he could not resist, and which impressed him that he might save the life of a fellow-being. He left his carriage; he arrived before it was too late. In a little while I should have been frozen to death."
Again Tarleton seized the boy by the wrist; and his brow grew dark, his eyes fierce and threatening.
"And you confessed the secret to this man?" he exclaimed. "Nay, deny it not!" He tightened his grasp. "You did confess—did you not?"
"Oh, pity!—do not harm me!" and Gulian shrunk before Tarleton's gaze. "I did not confess the secret—indeed I did not."
"Swear you did not!"
"I swear I did not!"
"I will not believe you, unless you will place your hand upon this crucifix, and swear by the Savior, that you did not reveal the secret."
The boy placed his hand upon the alabaster image, and said solemnly, "By the name of the Savior, I swear that I did not reveal the secret of which you speak."
Tarleton burst into a laugh.