"I said unfortunately," said Lopez. "You see—I forgot to mention it before, as I did not know that you were acquainted with him—but this Rivers has been arrested as a spy."
This was, of course, untrue; but Lopez was merely trying an experiment on Katie.
The experiment was fearfully successful.
In an instant all that Lopez had said at their last interview about the fate of spies rushed to her mind. Ashby's fate she had regarded with mild pity, but the fate of Rivers seemed to crush her down into the dust.
She clutched the arm of Lopez convulsively with both her hands; she raised up her face—white with horror; she gasped for breath.
"Oh, señor! oh, señor!" she cried, "what is it that you mean? A spy! Harry a spy, and arrested! Oh, you cannot mean it! Say that you do not mean it! Oh, say it—say it!"
She could say no more. Her grasp loosened. She fell back, and, burying her face in her hands, burst into a passion of tears. Sobs convulsed that slender frame. Lopez sat with a bitter smile regarding her.
"You seem to value the life of this Rivers," said he at length, after a long silence.
Katie lifted her face, and regarded him with eyes all red and swollen.
"His life!" she exclaimed, with a shudder—"his life! Ah, that is it! And I see in your face that there is—no—hope. Oh, Harry! oh, Harry, Harry!"