"I was thinking, ma'am, that but for my visit he might never have
relaxed his guard--that it was I who helped the murderer to take him
at unawares. Nay--worse, ma'am, worse--his last thought may have
been that I was the traitor--that the blow he took was from the hand
he had filled with gold--that I had returned to kill him in his
blindness!"
Captain Branscome bowed his head upon his hands. I saw Plinny--who
all this while had sat silent, content to listen--rise, her face
twitching, and put out a hand to touch the captain's shoulder.
I saw her hand hesitate as her sense of decorum overtook her pity and
seemed to reason with it. And with that I heard the noise of wheels
on the road.
"Hallo!"--Miss Belcher pricked up her ears. "Here's that nuisance
Jack Rogers turning up again!"
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CONTENTS OF THE CORNER CUPBOARD.
Mr. Jack Rogers, as he pulled up by the porch and directed
me to stand by the young mare's head, wore a look of extreme
self-satisfaction. Beside him, also beaming, sat Mr. Goodfellow,
with the corner cupboard nursed between his knees.
"Capital news, lad!" announced Mr. Rogers, climbing down from the
tilbury. "The filly's pretty near dead-beat, though--must see to her
and cool her down before telling it.
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