"
"Come, that's more like sense," said the colonel approvingly.
The signorina sighed, but opposed us no longer.
Returning to ways and means, we arranged for communication in case of
need during the next three days without the necessity of meeting. My
position, as the center of financial business in Whittingham, made
this easy; the passage of bank messengers to and fro would excite
little remark, and the messages could easily be so expressed as to
reveal nothing to an uninstructed eye. It was further agreed that on
the smallest hint of danger reaching any one of us, the word should
at once be passed to the others, and we should _rendezvous_ at the
colonel's "ranch," which lay some seven miles from the town. Thence,
in this lamentable case, escape would be more possible.
"And now," said the colonel, "if Martin will hand over the dollars, I
think that's about all."
I had brought the ten thousand dollars with me. I produced them and
put them on the table, keeping a loving hand on them.
"You fully understand my position, colonel?" I said. "This thing is no
use to me unless I receive at least three hundred and twenty thousand
dollars, to pay back principal, to meet interest, and to replace
another small debt to the bank.
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