“I have nothing to say,” she returned, lifting a defiant face to him.
“It will be better for you to show a friendly disposition,” Earle returned, quietly. “I have this villain of whom Miss Dalton speaks securely locked up and ready for the officers as soon as morning breaks, and I will punish you to the extent of the law, also, unless you show a disposition to do what is right.”
He then related how he happened to be there that night—how he had searched for her so wearily, until he felt that he must have rest, and coming there, and hearing her sobbing, he had been strangely impressed that something was wrong, and had proceeded to investigate the matter. He told how he had attacked Tom Drake in the hall, dragged and locked him within his own room, and then resolved to enter hers.
The woman appeared greatly disturbed as she listened to this; she evidently had not supposed anything so serious had happened to her partner, and it was a very pale face that Earle looked into as he asked:
“Was it not mesmeric power that the wretch used to try to force Miss Dalton’s secret from her?”
“Yes; it can do no harm to tell that much,” she muttered.
“What was the meaning of those very strange questions he put to her to-night?”
She thought a moment, and then said:
“It was necessary for Miss Dalton’s health that she should go out at times and get the air; but we never took her out unless she was mesmerized, and Tom thought that if anything happened to us at any time, and she should be questioned, if she answered as he taught her, no one would suspect or molest her.”
“Is he in the habit of exercising his power over people in this way in carrying on his nefarious business?” Earle demanded.