Rhinds,
tearfully, at last.
"Madame," replied Farnum, in the gentlest tone he knew how to use, "I'll
admit I don't like to believe it."
"And you'll come out in a public interview, saying you're convinced
that the whole story is a monstrous lie, won't you?" pleaded the wife.
Jacob Farnum choked.
"I--I can't promise that, Mrs. Rhinds. You'll never believe how hard
it is for me to refuse you."
"Then you do believe my husband guilty?" demanded Mrs. Rhinds, in a
voice full of agony.
"Oh, I wish I could say what you want me to, Mrs. Rhinds, but--well, all
I can do is to remain silent."
"Can't I say something--something?" asked Helen Rhinds, appealingly.
Her moist eyes turned first on Mr. Farnum, then on Captain Jack.
"Ladies," confessed the Dunhaven shipbuilder, "you've already said
enough, as I looked at your faces, to make me almost feel that I am one
of the worst men alive."
"Oh, no, no, no!" protested the girl. "You are going to prove yourself
the most generous."
Then, turning, the girl caught at one of Benson's hands appealingly.
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