"Little good it did you," returned Tyrus, with a touch of scorn. "I had no weapon, and I would have mastered one of them had not the old man attacked me, scratching and clawing like a cat."

"But you are going to let them carry Flavia away?"

"You have as much right to stop them as I have."

"No, no!" almost shouted Maro, in great exasperation. "You have the right, for you are her uncle. You must do it!"

"I like not your language, Maro. No man has ever told me I must do a thing."

"But you let them walk away with her?"

"Because the young man, strong and able to battle for his rights, fled and sought shelter in hiding. Maro, I sadly fear I have been much mistaken in you. I fear you are a coward."

The younger man flushed with mingled anger and shame.

"What was I to do?" he demanded, seeking to justify himself in the eyes of Tyrus. "I saw that you were stretched p.r.o.ne upon the ground, and I feared you had been slain. I was disarmed, and that terrible American boy was. .h.i.tting me so fast that the blows could not be counted. I knew that, in another moment, I would have all three of them upon me. I fled to save my life."

"You saved it," said Tyrus, still with that biting touch of scorn. "You saved your life, but it may be that you have lost Flavia."

"Never!" grated Maro. "I will follow and take her from them!"

"Alone?" asked Tyrus, with that same manner. "You ran from one of them, but now you propose to follow and conquer all three of them. Indeed, Maro, your words and your behavior are inconsistent."

"We are losing time!" exclaimed Maro.

"We? Why, I thought you were going to do it quite alone."

"It is you who must lodge the complaint against them, as you did against the Englishman, for you are the uncle and guardian of Flavia."

"Oh, so you advise that we seek the a.s.sistance of the law?"

"It is the better way."

"In truth I doubted if you actually intended to attack those American fighters, even though you spoke so boldly. You have had quite enough of that, Maro. You still insist that Flavia must be your bride, even though you know now that she scorns you and would prefer death?"

"She is my light, my life! I must have her! You have given me your word that she shall be mine."

"But I had no thought that she would make such a terrible resistance.

She has ever been a good and dutiful girl since her father left her in my hands. I knew she was averse to you, Maro, but I fancied you could overcome her aversion, or that she would dutifully submit at my command.

She has in her the spirit of her father's family. He married my sister even though I hated him and sought to prevent the union. Maro, he loved her, which I hold to his credit. He was a good husband to her, and he nearly died of grief when she pa.s.sed from earth and left little Flavia.

It was for Flavia that he lived. Otherwise I believe he would have taken his life that he might join her. But when he met reverses and lost most of his little fortune, he felt that bad fortune had placed a blight on him while he remained in his native land. He found an opportunity to go to India, and he left Flavia with me, charging me to be like a father to her. It is now said by this Englishman that he has prospered in life, and by this Englishman he sends a message which tells me to let Flavia return to him in care of the Englishman."

"A trick! a trick!" cried Maro fiercely. "The letter was a forgery!"

"How do you know?"

"The Englishman and Flavia met before he presented that letter."

"Which is true."

"She fell in love with him."

"Her behavior seems to denote it," confessed Tyrus.

"She knew I wished to marry her and that you favored me."

"Go on."

"The Englishman smiled on her. She was deceived. She told him of her father. Perhaps she gave him some letters from her father. Either the Englishman forged the letter, or he employed an expert to accomplish it.

In this manner he means to steal her from you and from me."

"It is possible you speak the truth."

"I know I speak the truth! I feel it here in my heart! He is deceiving her. He would take her away, pretending that it is his intention to conduct her to her father; but in truth he has no such intention, and when he becomes tired of her he will desert her. I am right, Tyrus. She will be left to die in some foreign land by this young dog of an Englishman, whose father is rich and who has money to fling about with a lavish hand. It is your duty-and mine-to save her from such a fate!

Arouse yourself, Tyrus! Bestir yourself, and let's do something without delay. The Englishman has been placed beneath arrest. It is our next move to enter complaint against the Americans and have them arrested also. It can be done."

Tyrus bowed gravely.

"It can be done," he agreed; "and, as you say, it may be our duty to see that it is done."

"Then delay not. Every moment is precious."

"Give me your hand," said the elder man.

Maro a.s.sisted him to rise.

"It was a terrible shock I received," muttered Tyrus, moving his shoulders and making a wry face. "It is most remarkable that my neck was not broken. Even now to move at all causes me discomfort, and to-morrow I fancy I will be exceedingly lame."

"Think not of yourself," urged Maro, burning with impatience and seeking to pull Tyrus onward. "Think of Flavia and your duty to her. Hasten!"

"Wait a little," said the elder man. "I am dizzy. My head reels. It is a singular sensation, for all my life I have been strong as the horse."

Indeed, he swayed and might have fallen but for the supporting arm of the young man.

"Oh, these Americans!" he muttered. "Even mere boys, scarce escaped from the nursery, seem to have the courage, skill and strength of men. What a wonderful people they must be!"

"Bah! I admire them not, for ever it is that an American and an Englishman will unite against one of any other nation. They speak one language, and there is between them a bond of sympathy stronger than they themselves dream. Has the Astrologer of Minerva not said that some day they will unite and rule the world. I admire them not, I tell you!

Come, Tyrus, they will escape with Flavia, and we--"

"We will find them, never fear. They shall soon be placed in confinement and kept there until Flavia is yours. I think I can walk now."

"Then hasten, hasten!" urged the impatient and baffled lover.

CHAPTER XXV.

TWO ENGLISHMEN.