I was unconscious that there was a sudden questioning in my eyes until Estelle answered it.
“No, I never was told how things were until to-day,” she said. “I would have scorned to be. I know Dave!”
Now of course reason was not altogether upon her side, and yet as she looked straight at me with those clear uncompromising blue eyes of hers, I hung my head.
“Now, you bear up, Rob, old fellow!” Dave counseled with an affectation of lightness—I knew that it was an affectation by the anxious little frown between his eyes. “We must get you home or we shall have your father down upon us.”
Rob looked about him uneasily. “No, he has gone out to the back pastures and from there he was going to ride up to Penfield. He won’t be home until night. And that fat nurse eats a lot and gossips with Marcella. It makes me feel better to be here. I wish I could get well enough to go with you, Dave, when you go after Lucifer. If it would only be safe to bring him home. But it won’t, you know; ten years wouldn’t change Lucifer so father wouldn’t know him. But you will get him boarded in a good place, won’t you, Dave? and so near that we can go to see him!”
Dave’s teeth were set tightly together, his face was turned away from Rob.
“I’ll do just the best I can, Rob, and soon now, I hope!” he said in a cheerful tone. “But if you are going to pick up so you can go with me, it won’t do for you to take such excursions as this!”
“You put me off about the horse; there’s something you don’t tell me!” cried Rob querulously. “People think it’s all right to cheat me; and then they spy upon me and try to make me tell them things, as Bathsheba did. Why did she want to make me tell her, when she knew already? I suppose she wanted to tell father that I had owned up. If he should know, Dave, that you had borne all the blame for me—why I think it would kill him! He is so proud; he is ashamed of my being a weakling, as he calls it! And just the way he would look at me would kill me! That girl that’s listening won’t tell, will she?”
He seemed suddenly aware of Alice Yorke’s presence and to realize that he was revealing more than was prudent.
“No, she won’t tell; I am sure I can answer for that,” said Dave gravely. “No one will tell.” And looking over Rob’s head Dave made a solemn, mournful sign to Estelle and me. It meant that Rob would not live long; we must humor him at whatever cost. Now inwardly I rebelled. I thought there had been too much yielding to Rob’s whims already; that Dave’s had been a foolish martyrdom. It was natural that a strong and healthy young man like Dave should think Rob was upon the verge of the grave; I knew that puny people sometimes live long. And I thought it quite time that Dave’s costly sacrifice should come to an end.