"I hope," Archie ventured timidly, "that you came alone?"
"Oh, yes; I'm alone! Trust me for that; but my friend Walker was not easily shaken. A strong passionate nature, Walker; a man long habituated to the lethal knife, the unerring pistol. No easy task you may well believe to get rid of him. And his provocation! O my boy, his provocation to justifiable homicide and all that sort of thing!"
"Well, I only did what I thought was right," Archie declared doggedly. "I wasn't weighing the consequences."
The Governor, filling his pipe, lifted a hand to emphasize the "splendid" with which he received this statement.
"Splendid, my dear Archie, to see how beautifully you rose to the situation—a situation that spoke powerfully to your generous heart! If there has been any error it is mine. I should have known from the way you played up to the Seebrook girl that you were far too susceptible to be trusted with women. The error is mine; not yours, Archie; I don't blame you a particle. Indeed the incident warms my heart to you. Sally is a winsome lass; she has a way with her, that girl!"
"I would have done the same thing for any girl in like circumstances," Archie declared, pacing the floor with shoulders erect.
"I dare say you would! Your heart and your sword are at the command of any pretty jade who squints at you! But when I suggested that it might be well for you to keep in practice I didn't mean for you to make a monkey of yourself. Your true love—what did you say her name is?"
To recall Isabel to his memory was a greater mockery than the Governor knew, but Archie met the question with well-feigned unconcern.
"I didn't say," he answered; "but her name is Isabel."
"Ah! One of the few really perfect names in the whole list! Rather more style to it than Sally! And yet Sally has been used to good advantage by the balladists. To 'Sally in Our Alley,' we might add Sally at the Churn or Sally Softly Singing in the Corn, or Sally Leading Archie by the Ear. The possibilities are exquisite."