"I can't shield a guilty man."
"Nonsense, you idiot; I am as innocent as you are."
"Then why do you send me away? No, Dr. Jarvis, this is plain to me. You killed him."
"I killed him?" cried the doctor.
"Yes; but you are not a murderer at heart. Some accident led to this. Tell me how it happened, and if it is as I think, I will go."
"I tell you I am innocent. I had nothing to do with this man's disappearance."
Despite all Nick's ingenuity, Dr. Jarvis stuck to this assertion. There was nothing left for Nick, in the character of Cleary, except to pretend to believe it.
He resolved to accept the doctor's bribe. This was almost necessary, for in any case he would be obliged to remove Cleary.
After this conversation, it would not be safe to leave the negro there. The doctor would, of course, discover that some trick had been played upon him as soon as he mentioned the events of the night to Cleary.
The results which would follow such a discovery Nick wished to avoid.