Douglas looked up as the girl’s light footsteps fell upon his ear. He saw that she was pale and haggard, that her eyelids were swollen with weeping.
“You heard of my ill-fortune and came to me,” he remarked simply.
“Yes,” she replied in a tone scarcely audible. “Do you not want something to eat?”
“I want nothing.”
“Nothing?” And she eyed him sharply.
“Nothing but my liberty.”
“It is impossible for me to give you that,” she answered hastily, giving him a look that he could not interpret. “But you must eat something. You will need all your strength for the ordeal.”
“What do you mean?” he inquired in an unmoved voice.
Unheeding his question, she turned and left the hut. She was gone but a few minutes. When she returned, she bore a quantity of corn bread and meat.