"Oh, don't quarrel!" cried Miss Cullen.
Holding him, I said, "Lord Ralles, I overheard what Miss Cullen was
saying, and, supposing some man was insulting her, I acted as I did."
Then I let go of him, and, turning, I continued, "I am very sorry,
Miss Cullen, if I did anything the circumstances did not warrant,"
while cursing myself for my precipitancy and for not thinking that
Miss Cullen would never have been caught in such a plight with a man
unless she had been half willing; for a girl does not merely threaten
to call for help if she really wants aid.
Lord Ralles wasn't much mollified by my explanation. "You're too
much in a hurry, my man," he growled, speaking to me as if I were a
servant. "Be a bit more careful in the future."
I think I should have retorted--for his manner was enough to make a
saint mad--if Miss Cullen hadn't spoken.
"You tried to help me, Mr. Gordon, and I am deeply grateful for that,"
she said. The words look simple enough set down here. But the tone in
which she said them, and the extended hand and the grateful little
squeeze she gave my fingers, all seemed to express so much that I was
more puzzled over them than I was over the robbery.
CHAPTER IV
SOME RATHER QUEER ROAD AGENTS
"You had better come back to the car, Miss Cullen," remarked Lord
Ralles, after a pause.
But she declined to do so, saying she wanted to know what I was going
to telegraph; and he left us, for which I wasn't sorry. I told her of
the good news I had to send, and she wanted to know if now we would
try to catch the road agents.
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