“He is no friend of mine,” he said, hotly.
“Oh, I thought you had made up,” said Steve, maliciously. “Well, he will be if you give me up to him. But I thought you might make a little better terms for me than I could for myself, as he seems to prefer the city to the country just now, and I fear a communication from me would not meet with the consideration at his hands that the closeness of our intimacy a short time since should secure for it.”
“What the d—l are you driving at, Allen?” asked Thurston. “You know what I think of Leech, and how he regards me. But that does not alter the fact that I am sent here to catch—to apprehend you—and if I do my duty I should have you arrested.”
“Of course, Captain Thurston, do your duty,” said Steve, coolly, his face hardening a little and his upper lip curling slightly.
“No, no, Allen. I did not mean it that way. I am only trying to get at what you want. I am a little mystified.”
His evident friendliness soothed Steve’s feelings, which had been ruffled by his former speech.
“I want to see whether I would not be accepted as a propitiatory offering in place of my friends—of others who have done nothing, and deserve no punishment. I am the head and front of the whole business. I am responsible for all they are charged with, and they are not. And I want to get them released, and give myself up in their place.”
Thurston looked deeply troubled. He shook his head thoughtfully.
“I do not want to arrest you. I must say that you are the last person in the world that I wanted to see. But if you stay here, I must arrest you. If, however, you came here with any idea that I would—I mean, that I could—make terms with you, I do not wish to take advantage of your mistake. There is a door. You can walk out of it while I go and call the sergeant of the guard.”
Steve shook his head.