BENZEOR'S plight was a sad one, but as he gazed about him in his helplessness the only face upon which he could discover any traces of sympathy or compassion was that of Little Peter. The lad had had no suspicion of his neighbor, and was ignorant, as we know, of the part which Benzeor had taken in the attack on his father's house. Even now it was difficult for him to believe that Ted had spoken truly. He must have been mistaken, Peter thought, as he recalled the kindness of Sarah and Benzeor's wife in permitting the children to find a shelter in their home.
Perhaps the perplexed lad's face betrayed his feelings, for just at that moment Benzeor looked up and said,--
"There! That boy knows me!" and he pointed at Little Peter as he spoke. "He knows all about me, for he's a neighbor of mine. I tell you there's been a mistake. I'm not the man you're"--
Benzeor's words were suddenly interrupted by Ted, who thrust his head again under the water, and when he lifted him out once more the prisoner was sputtering and gasping for breath.
"Made a mistake, did I?" exclaimed the angry giant. "Well, mebbe I did, but I reckon the biggest one was in not keepin' you under the river all the time. Runnin' round here prowlin' on defenseless women folks and tryin' to steal what little money they've got left! Drownin' 's too good for such as you!" And, unable to restrain himself, the angry man again shook his helpless victim till it seemed as if the little breath Benzeor retained must be driven from his body.
"I--I--I'm telling you the truth," gasped Benzeor when he had recovered sufficiently to be able to speak again. "Won't you help me? Won't you save me from this--this--man?" he pleaded, turning to the men in the whaleboat. "That--that boy there knows me, and he'll tell you I--I--I'm all right. Won't you, Little Peter? Please! Please, tell them!"
"Do you know him?" said the leader to Little Peter.
"Ye don't know any good of him, do ye?" said Ted, interrupting, and tightening his grasp upon the collar of his victim as he spoke.
"He is a neighbor of mine, as he said. I never knew any bad of him. And his wife and girl are taking care of the children. I know that." Little Peter was perplexed, and his suspicions had been aroused by the discovery of his neighbor in his present predicament, but the recollection of Sarah's kindness moved him to refer to their recent actions, in the hope that he might aid her father.