I patted her hand encouragingly. "It had to be done. He was in a
desperate predicament, and he would have shot Haggerty had the
detective been careless in has turn; and he wouldn't have aimed to
maim, either."
"What a horrible night! It will haunt me as long as I live!"
I said nothing; and we did not speak again till the first of the
Blankshire lights flashed by us. By this time her sobs had ceased.
"I know I haven't done anything especially gallant to-night; no
fighting, no rescuing, and all that. They just moved _me_ around like
a piece of stage scenery."
A smile flashed and was gone. It was a hopeful sign.
"But the results are the same. You have admitted to me that you are
neither engaged nor married. Won't you take me on--on approval?"
"Mr. Comstalk, it all seems so like a horrid dream. You _are_ a brave
man, and what is better, a sensible one, for you submitted to the
inevitable with the best possible grace. But you talk of love as
readily as a hero in a popular novel."
"I never go back," said I. "It seems incredible, doesn't it, that I
should declare myself in this fashion? Listen. For my part, I believe
that all this was written,--my Tom-foolery in Mouquin's, my imposture
and yours, the two identical cards,--the adventure from beginning to
end.
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