She made no reply, and presently he added:
“However, for your own sake, I should advise you not to do so. You see, Miss Harlan, it would greatly add to your present danger if I were to die. I do not express that with exact correctness, for, as a matter of fact, you are now in no danger at all, while if I were to die you might be in considerable.”
“I will not pretend to understand you,” she said scornfully.
“No? Suppose I make myself more explicit?”
“As you please,” she retorted.
“Must I remain here until I do so?”
“I have already told you that if you attempt to come nearer I will kill you. I did not deceive you when I said that.”
Again he shrugged his shoulders, and the ghost of a smile played around his handsome features, for, as the reader has guessed, he no longer wore the mask, nor the hat, nor the wig which went with it. Otherwise he was still in the costume of the corsair.
“Very good,” he said. “Perhaps you will be more lenient when I have explained.”
“If you can explain,” she replied coldly.