"
"Do you disparage my sex, then?"
"No; but I cannot imagine any man being discourteous to you. Surely
every gentleman with a sword by his side should spring at once to your
defense."
The girl laughed.
"Ah, Captain Roland, you are very young, and, I fear, inexperienced,
despite your filibustering. However, this lovely, still, summer night,
with its warm, velvety darkness, was made for pleasant thoughts. Enough
about myself. Let me hear something of you. Did you come up the river or
down, with your barge?"
"We came down."
"How long since you adopted a career of crime? You do not seem to be a
hardened villain."
"Believe me," protested Roland earnestly, "I am not, and I do not admit
that my career is one of crime."
"Indeed," said the girl, laughing again, "I am not so gullible as you
think. I could almost fancy that you were the incendiary of Furstenberg
Castle."
"What!" exclaimed Roland in consternation. "How came you to learn of its
destruction?"
"There!" cried the girl gleefully, "you have all but confessed.
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