"But he said nothing about himself--his motives?"

"Not a word, sir; yet it is plain to be seen that he is deeply
interested in your niece."

Fairfax frowned, ignoring the remark.

"But do you know the man--who he is?"

I shook my head, the memory of Haley flashing into my mind, but as
instantly dismissed as worthless. Fairfax would only laugh at such a
vague suspicion. Yet why should the planter ask me such a question?
Could it be that the Spaniard was equally unknown to himself?

"But if he has quarreled with your brother," he insisted, unsatisfied
"you perhaps know something?"

"I have not seen my brother in years. I doubt if I would know him if
we met face to face. As to this man, my knowledge of him is only what
little I have seen and heard on board the _Romping Betsy_," I answered
soberly. "I confess a prejudice; that I am unable to judge him
fairly. In the first place I do not like his race, nor his kind; but I
did suppose, of course, that, as he was your guest, you considered him
a man worthy your hospitality."

Fairfax's face reddened, and he must have felt the sting of these
words, uttered as they were by the lips of his bondman. I thought he
would turn abruptly away, leaving them unanswered, but he was too much
of a gentleman.