“She seems quite an altered woman, sir,” observed Toby. “But then——”
“But then what?” demanded the Black, seeing that the man hesitated.
“Well, sir—I will speak my mind free,” continued Bunce; “because I’m no longer afraid to do so. I was going to say that p’rhaps it is this loneliness in which we are placed that makes Betsy talk as she does; and that if we was to be again together out of doors——”
“You would not find me change, Toby,” interrupted the woman, but not in a querulous manner. “I like to hear you read to me from the Bible, and from the other good books that the gentleman has given us. I wish we had passed more of our time in this way before we got into all this trouble. But, pray, sir,” she added, turning towards the door, “do tell me whether you mean to keep us here all our lives!”
“You must ask me no questions, remember,” said the Black, in a mild but firm tone. “I have told you this before. Learn to subdue all impatience, and to become resigned and enduring. You have made others suffer in the world;—you have been the agents and tools of a wicked man;—and you now see that heaven is punishing you through the means of one who has power thus to treat you.”
“Oh! how I wish that I had never known that detestable Bones?” exclaimed the woman, covering her face with her hands.
“And how I wish that I had stuck to my trade in an honest manner!” cried Toby Bunce, in a voice of unfeigned contrition.
“Think of all that—repeat those sentences to each other—as often as you can,” said the Blackamoor. “In the course of a few days I shall visit you again.”
With these words, he stood back from the door, which Wilton opened; and the two inmates of the dungeon received supplies of wholesome food and moral or instructive books.
The party then proceeded farther along the subterranean passage from which the various cells opened.