“That was clever in you. And then you took leg bail?”
“Yes, sir. In ten or fifteen minutes I overtook your carriage, and seeing that you were in trouble, I climbed in and took the reins.”
“Luckily for me. The horse might have run away with me.”
“It was lucky for me, also, that I fell in with you,” added Bernard.
“I have a great mind to tell you a secret,” said Mr. Penrose, after a pause.
“It will be safe with me, sir.”
He was not surprised to hear that his companion had a secret, and was curious to learn what it might be.
“I ought to feel considerable sympathy with you,” went on Mr. Penrose, “for I am placed in a similar position. I, too, am running away.”
Bernard looked startled. Could it be, he asked himself, that his companion was a fugitive from justice? He could hardly believe it, for Mr. Penrose’s appearance was very much in his favor.
His companion went on with a smile, “Don’t suppose that I am a defaulter or a thief on my way to Canada,” he said. “My case is a peculiar one. I happen to be a rich man.”