fodder where he had slept. With his
elbow on the bed of corn stalks he lifted his head on his hand and
gazed at Harry King, not dreamily as when he first saw him, but with
covert keenness.

"Lie down in your place--a bit--lie down. We'll talk until we've
arrived at a conclusion, and it may be a long talk, so we may as well
be comfortable."

Harry King went back to his own bunk and lay prone, his forehead
resting on his folded arms and his face hidden. "Very well, sir; I'll
do my best. We have to accept each other for the best there is in us,
I take it. You've saved my life and the life of those two women, and
we all owe you our grat--"

"Go to, go to. It's not of that I'm wishing to speak. Let's begin at
the beginning, or, as near the beginning as we can. I've been standing
here looking at you while you were sleeping,--and last night--I mean
early this morning when I came up here, I--with a torch I studied your
face well and long. A man betrays his true nature when he is sleeping.
The lines of what he has been thinking and feeling show then when he
cannot disguise them by smiles or words. I'm old enough to be your
father--yes--so it might have been--and with your permission I'll talk
to you straight."

Harry King lifted his head and looked at the other, then resumed his
former position. "Thank you," was all he said.

"You've been well bred. You're in trouble. I ask you what is your true
name and what you have done?"

The young man did not speak. He lay still as if he had heard nothing,
but the other saw his hands clinch into knotted fists and the muscles
of his arms grow rigid. His heart beat heavily and the blood roared
in his ears. At last he lifted his head and looked back at the big man
and spoke monotonously.

"I gave you my name--all the name I have." His face was white in the
dim light and the lids drew close over his gray eyes.

"You prefer to lie to me? I ask in good faith."

"All the name I have is the one I gave you, Harry King."

"And you will hold to the lie?" They looked steadily into each other's
eyes. The young man nodded. "And there was more I asked of you."

Then the young man turned away from the keen eyes that had held him
and sat up in the fodder and clasped his knees with his hands and
looked straight out before him, regarding nothing--nothing but his own
thoughts. A strange expression crept over his face,--was it fear--or
was it an inward terror? Suddenly he put out his hand with a