Ah! what a double lie was on his soul!
“You old schemer, this is too much! If I am not your nephew, who am I then?”
He sprang to his feet, and stood with one clenched hand raised as if he would strike the evil man before him dead.
“Oh, you begin to be interested, do you?” was the taunting reply. “You are ready enough to look after your own interests, but won’t risk anything to help another.”
“Who am I? I ask you,” fairly hissed the boy, the perspiration starting from every pore of his white, convulsed face.
“Will you promise——”
“I promise nothing; but I’ll choke you if you don’t tell me quick,” and he glared savagely at his uncle.
The wicked squire looked uneasy. He sat in deep thought for a moment, while Ralph watched him in stern and breathless silence. He was about to venture a great stake, and if he failed it might prove the worse for him. At last he heaved a deep sigh, and with sudden determination in his voice, said:
“Put your ear down here, Ralph, for I would not have a breath of this heard.”
Ralph bent close to the old man, his white face growing whiter with the intense excitement he felt.