I ask ye now, isn't that proof that I'm a
gentleman and not a bounder? Having said as much, I now propose
arbitration. What have ye to offer in the shape of concessions?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"I'll be explicit. Would you mind handing over that tin box in
exchange for my polite thanks and a courteous good-by to both of ye?"
"Tin box?" cried Barnes.
"We have no box of any description, Mr. O'Dowd," cried she,
triumphantly. "Thank heaven, he got safely away!"
"Do you mean to tell me you came away without the--your belongings,
Miss Cameron?" exclaimed O'Dowd.
"They are not with me," she replied. Her grasp on Barnes's arm
tightened. "Oh, isn't it splendid? They did not catch him. He--"
"Catch him? Catch who?" cried O'Dowd.
"Ah, that is for you to find out, my dear O'Dowd," said Barnes,
assuming a satisfaction he did not feel.
"Well, I'll be--jiggered," came in low, puzzled tones from the rocks
outside. "Did you have a--a confederate, Barnes? Didn't you do the
whole job yourself?"
"I did my part of the job, as you call it, O'Dowd, and nothing more."
"Will you both swear on your sacred honour that ye haven't the jewels
in your possession?"
"Unhesitatingly," said Barnes.
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