CHAPTER XVI
A PECULIAR POSITION
“Well, young man, we find ourselves in what I call a peculiar position.”
A smile that would have been sardonic, were it not for a few lines around the corners of his eyes which belied any sinister suspicion, spread grimly across the big man’s face as he stood looking down on Harry King in the dusk of the unlighted shed. The younger man rose quickly from the fodder where he had slept heavily after the fatigues of the past day and night, and stood respectfully looking into the big man’s face.
“I––I––realize the situation. I thought about it after I turned in here––before you came down––or up––to this––ahem––bedroom. I can take myself off, sir. And if there were any way––of relieving you of––the––whole––embarrassment,––I––I––would do so.”
“Everything’s quiet down at the cabin. I’ve been there and looked about a bit. They had need of sleep. You go back to your bunk, and I’ll take mine, and we’ll talk the thing over before we see them again. As for your taking yourself off, that remains to be seen. I’m not crabbed, that’s not the secret of my life alone,––though you might think it. I––ahem––ahem.” The big man cleared his throat and stretched his spare frame full length on the fodder where he had slept. With his elbow on the bed of 199 corn stalks he lifted his head on his hand and gazed at Harry King, not dreamily as when he first saw him, but with covert keenness.
“Lie down in your place––a bit––lie down. We’ll talk until we’ve arrived at a conclusion, and it may be a long talk, so we may as well be comfortable.”
Harry King went back to his own bunk and lay prone, his forehead resting on his folded arms and his face hidden. “Very well, sir; I’ll do my best. We have to accept each other for the best there is in us, I take it. You’ve saved my life and the life of those two women, and we all owe you our grat––”
“Go to, go to. It’s not of that I’m wishing to speak. Let’s begin at the beginning, or, as near the beginning as we can. I’ve been standing here looking at you while you were sleeping,––and last night––I mean early this morning when I came up here, I––with a torch I studied your face well and long. A man betrays his true nature when he is sleeping. The lines of what he has been thinking and feeling show then when he cannot disguise them by smiles or words. I’m old enough to be your father––yes––so it might have been––and with your permission I’ll talk to you straight.”