"And he took a great interest in stones and bits of rock?"
"That was only recently, and I never understood it, sir. He put some in my trunk and some in his own, but what they were for I do not know. I don't suppose he did himself. He was always peculiar."
"Always or recently, do you mean?" Quarles asked.
"Always, but more so lately. Can you wonder after all we went through?
You can't imagine the horrors that were done in that heathen temple."
He told us some of them, but I shall not set them down here. It is enough to say that human sacrifices were offered. The mere remembrance of Bennett's narrative makes me shudder.
"It is a wonder it did not drive you both mad," said Quarles.
"That is what the master was afraid of," was the answer, "and it is the cause of all this trouble. He did not seem to think it would affect me, but he was very much afraid for himself."
"He told you so?"
"He did more than that. He said that if I saw he was going mad I was to shoot him, and so—"
"Wait a minute," said Quarles, "when did he say this to you?"