They were
watchful still and exceeding tender--the eyes of the hero she loved.
They faintly smiled at her. To his death he would keep up the farce. To
his death he would never show her the secret he had borne so long.
"Ah! The message!" he said, with an effort. "You gave it?"
"There was no need of a message," Averil cried. "You invented it to get
me away, to make me escape from danger. You knew that otherwise I would
not have gone. It was your only reason for sending me."
He did not answer her. The smile died slowly out. His eyes passed to
Derrick. He looked at him very earnestly, and there was unutterable
pleading in the look.
The boy stooped forward. Shocked by the sudden discovery, he yet
answered as it were involuntarily to the man's unspoken wish. He knelt
down beside the girl, his arm about her shoulders. His voice came with a
great sob.
"The Secret Service man and Carlyon of the Frontier in one!" he said. "A
man who does not forsake his friends. I might have known."
There was a pause, a great silence. Then Carlyon of the Frontier spoke
softly, thoughtfully, with grave satisfaction it seemed. He looked at
neither of them, but beyond them both.
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