A Bushranger at Bay
For an instant Stingaree seemed on the brink of a smile; then his dark face hardened, and he tapped the long barrel in rest between his knees.
"You may call it murder if you like," said he. "That will not prevent me from shooting you dead unless you speak the truth. You have come for something; what is it?"
"I've told you already. I was bored and disgusted. That is the truth."
"But not the whole truth," cried Stingaree. "You had some other reason."
Kentish looked down without speaking. He heard the revolver cocked.
"Come, let us have it, or I'll shoot you like the spy I believe you are!"
"You may shoot me for telling you," said Kentish, with a quiet laugh and shrug.
"No, I shall not, unless it turns out that you're ground-bait for the police."
"That I am not," said Kentish, growing serious in his turn. "But, since you insist, I have come to persuade you to give up every one of these letters which you have no earthly right to touch."
Their eyes met. Stingaree's were the wider open, and in an instant the less stern. He dropped his revolver, with a laugh, into its old place at his side.
107
