"Please don't speak of that! It was so terrible!"

"But I must speak of it! Once before the same attempt was made--that
night on the _King Edward_."

"Yes; I have not forgotten."

"And to-day I have reason to believe that the same man watched his
chance, for I have ridden here every day since I came, and he must have
kept track of me."

"But this is America, Mr. Armitage!"

"That does not help me with you. You have every reason to resent my
bringing you into such dangers,--it is unpardonable--indefensible!"

She saw that he was greatly troubled.

"But you couldn't help my being in the park to-day! I have often stopped
just there before. It's a favorite place for meditations. If you know the
man--"

"I know the man."

"Then the law will certainly protect you, as you know very well. He was a
dreadful-looking person. The police can undoubtedly find and lock him
up."

She was seeking to minimize the matter,--to pass it off as a commonplace