“You took my letter last night?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Was there an answer for me?”

“Yes.”

“Couldn’t you have come to the camp and told me?”

“I could, but I had other matters to concern me,” he replied. “Here’s your letter,” and he fished it out of his tattered pocket.

I was angry enough, but I did not wish to anger him at that moment. So I took the letter and read it—a formal line saying the Countess de Vassart would expect me at five that afternoon.

“You are not noted for your courtesy, are you?” I inquired, smiling.

Something resembling a grin touched his sea-scarred visage.

“Oh, I knew you’d come for your answer,” he said, coolly.