"Besides, the owner may come back, now, at any minute, and if he finds us together it will save time in our getting off."
Turning away to resume her walk she answered, indifferently: "Very well, I will be there soon."
Pats had placed before the lady a portion of a ham, a plate of crackers, some marmalade, and a bottle of claret.
"There are provisions in the cellar," he said, "to last a year: sacks of flour, dried apples, preserved fruits, potatoes, all sorts of canned things, and claret by the dozen."
As he spoke, he laid his hand upon the back of the chair that held the miniature,--the seat opposite her own.
"Don't sit there!" she exclaimed. "We must respect the customs of the house."
"Of course!" and he drew up another seat.
Food and a little wine tended to freshen the spirits of both travellers. Pats especially acquired new life and strength. The arrival of a glass or two of claret in his yearning stomach revived his hopes and loosened his tongue. Noticing that her eyes were constantly returning to the little portrait that faced her, he said, at last:
"By the way, there is something in the cellar that may throw some light on this lady, or on that empty grave back there." And he nodded toward the pines.
He smiled at her surprise and horror. In a low voice, she murmured:
"I have no idea, unless some one disappointed somebody else by remaining alive, when he--or she--ought to be dead. That sometimes happens."
"It is very mysterious," and she looked into the eyes of the miniature as if for enlightenment.
"Very, indeed; but on the other hand, certain things are pretty evident. Such as the character of our host, and various points in his career."
"You mean that he is a hermit with a history?"
"Yes, and more specific than that!" Then, turning about in his chair and surveying the room: "He is an aristocrat, to begin with. These works of art are ancestral. They are no amateur's collection. Moreover, he left France because he had to. A man of his position does not bring his treasures into the wilderness for the fun of it. And when he settled here he had no intention of being hunted up by his friends--or by his enemies."
Elinor, with averted eyes, listened politely, but with no encouraging display of interest.