"Well, I think it was a good deal your fault, don"t you know." Miss Sommerton looked at him.
"Have I not been punished enough already?" she said.
"For the death of two men--if they are dead? Bless me! no. Do you imagine for a moment there is any relation between the punishment and the fault?"
Miss Sommerton buried her face in her hands.
"Oh, I take that back," said Trenton. "I didn"t mean to say such a thing."
"It is the truth--it is the truth!" wailed the young woman. "Do you honestly think they did not reach the sh.o.r.e?"
"Of course they did. If you want to know what has happened, I"ll tell you exactly, and back my opinion by a bet if you like. An Englishman is always ready to back his opinion, you know. Those two men swam with the current until they came to some landing-place. They evidently think we are drowned. Nevertheless, they are now making their way through the woods to the settlement. Then comes the hubbub. Mason will stir up the neighbourhood, and the men who are back from the woods with the other canoes will be roused and pressed into service, and some time to-night we will be rescued."
"Oh, I hope that is the case," cried Miss Sommerton, looking brightly at him.
"It is the case. Will you bet about it?"
"I never bet," said Miss Sommerton.
"Ah, well, you miss a good deal of fun then. You see I am a bit of a mind reader. I can tell just about where the men are now."
"I don"t believe much in mind reading."
"Don"t you? Shall I give you a specimen of it? Take that letter we have spoken so much about. If you think it over in your mind I will read you the letter--not word for word, perhaps, but I shall give you gist of it, at least."
"Oh, impossible!"
"Do you remember it?"
"I have it with me."
"Oh, have you? Then, if you wish to preserve it, you should spread it out upon the ground to dry before the fire."
"There is no need of my producing the letter," replied Miss Sommerton; "I remember every word it."
"Very well, just think it over in your mind, and see if I cannot repeat it. Are you thinking about it?"
"Yes, I am thinking about it."
"Here goes, then. "Miss Edith Sommerton----""
"Wrong," said that young lady.
"The Sommerton is right, is it not?"
"Yes, but the first name is not."
"What is it, then?"
"I shall not tell you."
"Oh, very well. Miss Sommerton,--"I have some hesitation in answering your letter." Oh, by the way, I forgot the address. That is the first sentence of the letter, but the address is some number which I cannot quite see, "Beacon Street, Boston." Is there any such street in that city?"
"There is," said Miss Sommerton. "What a question to ask."
"Ah, then Beacon Street is one of the princ.i.p.al streets, is it?"
"One of them? It is _the_ street. It is Boston."
"Very good. I will now proceed with the letter. "I have some hesitation in answering your letter, because the sketches you send are so bad, that it seems to me no one could seriously forward them to an artist for criticism. However, if you really desire criticism, and if the pictures are sent in good faith, I may say I see in them no merit whatever, not even good drawing; while the colours are put on in a way that would seem to indicate you have not yet learned the fundamental principle of mixing the paints. If you are thinking of earning a livelihood with your pencil, I strongly advise you to abandon the idea. But if you are a lady of leisure and wealth, I suppose there is no harm in your continuing as long as you see fit.--Yours truly, JOHN TRENTON.""
Miss Sommerton, whose eyes had opened wider and wider as this reading went on, said sharply--
"He has shown you the letter. You have seen it before it was sent."
"I admit that," said the artist.
"Well--I will believe all you like to say about Mr. John Trenton."
"Now, stop a moment; do not be too sweeping in your denunciation of him.
I know that Mr. Trenton showed the letter to no one."
"Why, I thought you said a moment ago that he showed it to you."
"He did. Yet no one but himself saw the letter."
The young lady sprang to her feet.
"Are you, then, John Trenton, the artist?"
"Miss Sommerton, I have to plead guilty."
CHAPTER VI.
Miss Eva Sommerton and Mr. John Trenton stood on opposite sides of the blazing fire and looked at each other. A faint smile hovered around the lips of the artist, but Miss Sommerton"s face was very serious. She was the first to speak.
"It seems to me," she said, "that there is something about all this that smacks of false pretences."
"On my part, Miss Sommerton?"
"Certainly on your part. You must have known all along that I was the person who had written the letter to you. I think, when you found that out, you should have spoken of it."
"Then you do not give me credit for the honesty of speaking now. You ought to know that I need not have spoken at all, unless I wished to be very honest about the matter."