“She has not come? Her father has not come?”
“Curse it! Are you trying to bait me?”
Sevier slumped low in the chair and glared blankly at the emperor.
“Not here,” he mumbled. “Then, where are they?”
McGillivray began pacing the room, a crafty cunning glittering through his half-closed lids as he watched the borderer. Finally coming to a halt before Sevier, he stared down at him and slowly inquired—
“Are you sure, John Sevier of the Nolichucky, that you don’t know where they are?”
“If I did, would I be here?” asked Sevier bitterly.
The emperor weighed his show of sincerity and at last accepted it at face value. His lofty brow became worried.
“Polcher said they started for here. He is much disturbed that they haven’t arrived. You and Polcher could scarcely be called friends?”
“He’s the minor reason for my coming to Little Talassee. I’ve promised myself the pleasure of hanging him.”