She has been
ill for years with heart trouble. And so he had the child, but only for a
time. The girl had a will of her own and broke away, joined a circus in
California. He tracked her down, captured her again, tried to make a
slave of her. But she was like a wild creature. She stabbed him one night
and fled. That was Rozelle's trouble. She had never been able to hear of
her again. She begged me to find--and save her. I promised to do my best.
But--there was no need to search very far. To-night Spentoli pulled the
wires again. It was he who switched on that light. It was he who killed
Rozelle. The girl in the gallery with you--Toby--was her daughter--and
mine. You heard Rozelle cry out when she saw her. She never spoke again."
Larpent ceased to speak. He was no longer looking at Saltash. The far
vision seemed to have caught his gaze again. He stared beyond.
Saltash watched him with working brows. "Are you wanting to lay claim to
the girl?" he asked abruptly.
Larpent's face was grim. "I make no claim, my lord," he said. "But I have
sworn to do my best for her. I shall keep that oath of mine."
"Meaning?" said Saltash.
The sailor's look met his squarely. "You know what I mean," he said.
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