"The soldiers! what soldiers?" asked Minnie.
"Why, they're having a fight over there—the soldiers are attacking the brigands."
"Well, I didn't know. Nobody told me. And did you come with the soldiers?"
"Well, not exactly. I came with the priest and the young lady."
"But you were not at the house?"
"No. They wouldn't take me all the way. The priest said I couldn't be disguised—but I don't see why not—so he left me in the woods till he came back. And then the soldiers came, and we crept on till we came nigh the lake. Well, then I stole away; and when they made an attack the brigands all ran there to fight, and I watched till I saw the coast clear; and so I came, and here we are."
Minnie now was quite silent and preoccupied, and occasionally she glanced sadly at Tozer with her large, pathetic, child-like eyes. It was a very piteous look, full of the most tender entreaty. Tozer occasionally glanced at her, and then, like her, he sat silent, involved in his own thoughts.
"And so," said Minnie at last, "you're not the priest himself?"
"The priest?"
"Yes."