Betty looked at him long and earnestly. Then she rose from her chair.
"So be it, Dave. I ask you but one thing. Deal with him as your heart prompts you, and not as your head dictates. I will send him to you, and will come back again—when the mill is at work."
Their eyes met in one long ardent gaze. The man nodded, and the smile in his eyes was very, very tender.
"Yes, Betty. Don't leave me too long—I can't do without you now."
The girl's eyes dropped before the light she beheld in his.
"I don't want you to—do without me," she murmured. And she hurried out of the room.
CHAPTER XXXII
TWO MEN—AND A WOMAN
It took some time for Betty to carry out Dave's wishes. Simon Odd, who was Jim Truscott's jailer while the mills were idle, and who had him secreted away where curious eyes were not likely to discover him, was closely occupied with the preparations at the other mill. She had to dispatch a messenger to him, and the messenger having found Simon, it was necessary for the latter to procure his prisoner and hand him over to Dave himself. All this took a long time, nearly an hour and a half, which made it two o'clock in the morning before Truscott reached the office under his escort.