"I can't yet," gasped Spike; "I can't till I've told ye what a mean guy I've been."
"What about?"
"About you—and Hermy. Bud said you meant t' make her go the way—little Maggie Finlay went, an'—oh, Geoff, I—I kind of believed him."
"Did you, Spike—that foul beast? But you don't believe it any longer, and M'Ginnis is—only M'Ginnis, after all."
"But I—I've got to tell you more," said the lad miserably, as meeting Ravenslee's eye with an effort, he went on feverishly. "The other night after—after Bud slipped me the—the stuff an' I'd had a—a drink or two, he began askin' all about you. At first I blocked and side-stepped all his questions, but he kep' on at me, an' at last I—I give you away, Geoff—" Here Spike paused breathlessly and cast an apprehensive glance toward his hearer, but finding him silent and serene as ever he repeated:
"I—gave you away, Geoff!"
"Did you, Spike?"
"Yes, I—I told him who you really are!"
"Did you, Spike?"
"Yes! Yes! Oh, Geoff, don't you understand?"