Her manner told him that judgment had been passed, but it did not shake the cheerful good humor of the man.
"I reckon I can."
"Of course you can. I might have known you could. You will probably have the effrontery to deny that you are the man who robbed Captain Kilmeny."
"Did he say I was the man?" There was amusement and a touch of interest in his voice.
"He didn't deny it. I knew it must be you. I told him everything—how you found out from me that he was going to Gunnison with the money and hurried away to rob him of it. Because you are his cousin he wouldn't accuse you. But I did. I do now. You stole the money a second time." Her words were low, but in them was an extraordinary vehemence, the tenseness of repressed feeling.
"So he wouldn't accuse me, nor yet wouldn't deny that I was the man. Well, I'll not deny it either, since you're so sure."
"You are wise, sir. You can't delude me a second time. Your denial would count for nothing. And now I think there is nothing more to be said."
She had risen and was about to turn away. A gesture of his hand stopped her.
"If you were so sure about me why didn't you have the officers here to arrest me?"
"Because—because you are a relative of my friends."