THE MYSTERY
he said. "Obadiah had planned that I should meet Marion, but I was a fool and spoiled his scheme. If I had done as he told me I should have seen her this morning."
In a few words he reviewed the events of the preceding evening and of that morning—of his coming to the island, his meeting with Obadiah, and of the singular way in which he had become interested in Marion. He omitted the oaths but told of Winnsome's warning and of his interview with the Mormon king. When he spoke of the girl as he had seen her through the king's window, and of her appealing face turned to him at the jail, his voice trembled with an excitement that deepened the flush in Neil's cheeks.
"Captain Plum, I thank God that you like Marion," he said simply. "After I kill Strang will you help her?"
"Yes."
"You are willing to risk—"
"My life—my men—my ship!"
Nathaniel spoke like one to whom there had
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