_ CHAPTER VIII
The detective laughed in a quiet way, and said:
"My dear child, I have been in hotter danger than any that threatens me at this moment. I know now in which quarter the danger lies, and I would be a poor man were I to be frightened off when holding that 'lead.'"
"But those men are set to catch you to-night. They have sworn to assault you, and there are twenty of them, all told; you may treat the danger lightly, but I tell you they are a desperate lot. They will make good their threat unless you go. It will be impossible for you to stand against them all."
"Never you fear for me, Renie; I'll go off in the yacht to-night. She catches a 'liner,' and don't you forget."
"You will go off in the yacht with those men?" exclaimed the girl.
"Yes, I will."
'Never! they will go for you at sight! They know now that you have been warned."
"I will look out for myself; it is not my peril we must consider, but yours."
"I am safe. I shall tell all to my father, and after that it will be a dangerous thing for Garcia to show his face around our cabin."
"The man has money, he will operate by trick and device. He will bribe someone whom you consider your best friend to aid him, and already you have an enemy."
"Sol Burton?"
"Yes."
"I do not fear him. I'll scare that man over to the mainland, to remain there, before to-morrow's sunset. No, no! I am not in danger, but you are."
"You need have no fear for me."
"You will not go to Rigby's to-night?"
"I may go down there."
"And invite your doom?"
The detective smiled as he answered:
"I can depend upon you?"
"How depend upon me?"
"You will not give any information against me!"
"I certainly will not."
"You must not know anything about me when you are questioned, but you can suggest that, possibly, I have become seared, and slid away."
"Why do you not go?"
"Go! why, my child, I'm getting right down to the business that brought me here; in a few days I'll have matters dead to rights; and, while I think of it, let me warn you, do not let Tom Pearce go off any more."
"He does not go off nowadays. He has not been off in the yacht for a year. He is getting too old."
"Give him a warning."
"How warn him?"
"Tell him to lay low, that the officers have got all the points down good, and are about to close in; tell him he'll be safe if he lies quiet close from this time out."
"I will warn him; but, alas! it's you who should take warning. You know not your peril?"
"We will drop that matter for the present. I have only one more word to say: You must know nothing about me, under any circumstances whatever; you must never seek to communicate with me, unless I first address you."
"I do not understand."
"It is not necessary for you to understand; you are a girl of ready wit; a general command to you is sufficient. I have good reasons for my request. I am amply able to take care of myself under all circumstances; my fear, as I told you, is for you. And now, to change the subject, have you any intimate friend, save your father?"
"Not one."
"Can I claim to be a friend of yours?"
The girl answered promptly:
"You have already proven yourself a friend."
"You remember the words addressed to you by Sol Burton?"
"Yes."
"That fellow, I am satisfied, has no information for you."
"I have so decided in my own mind."
"Will you confide in me as a friend?"
"I will!" came the ready reply.
"I have reason to know that there is a mystery connected with your committal, years ago, to the care of Mrs. Pearce."
"I know that myself."
"I can solve that mystery if you permit me to do so."
"I believe you can aid me; but if you go to Rigby's to-night you can never do service far me; these men will make good their threat!"
"We will not talk about me now; we will talk about you, and I wish to ask you one question: Were you with Mrs. Pearce when she died"
"I was."
"Did she succeed in making any communication"
"She did not."
"Not even one word?"
"She only succeeded in saying, 'Renie, I have something important to tell you;' then her tongue became paralyzed, and she never spoke again."
"Upon no former occasion did she ever give you hint?"
"Never."
"She never told you of the circumstances under which you were confided to her care?"
"Never."
"And she never spoke of a mysterious box or any relics that might some day serve as identification tokens."
"Never. She always gave me to understand that she was my real mother."
"Well, now, Renie, I wish to ask you some very, important questions, and I desire that you will think and consider well before you make a reply."
"I have a good memory; but, first, tell me what was the purport of the conversation between my father and the man Garcia?"
"We will not speak of that now."
"There were revelations made"
"Yes."
"And you will repeat them to me?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Some day."
"Why not now?"
"I will answer you frankly. I have determined, as I told you, to solve the mystery connected with your consignment to the care of Mrs. Pearce, and I do not wish to tell you anything that will start any suggestions in your mind, until I have collected and considered all the little memories you may have retained of the habits of your supposed mother."
"Her habits were ordinary and commonplace enough. She was merely a good, hard-working fisherman's wife."
"But did she not act like a woman who possessed: a secret?"
The girl was thoughtful for some moments.
"I do remember a strange incident that once occurred when I was quite a girl."
"Ah! now we are getting down to it. Relate the incident."
"My reputed mother is buried in the graveyard on the mainland, beside the grave of her son."
"Yes."
"Well, once she visited his grave with me, and as she stood weeping, she said, after focusing her eyes on me in a strange manner:
"'Renie, some day from that grave may come forth a strange secret; the day may come when I will tell you about it.'" _