Page:Waylaid by Wireless - Balmer - 1909.djvu/299

Rh yourself and us open to his attack again when we scattered forces—when you deserted us after Ely."

"Guilty, Protector!" Preston pleaded.

"We kept hearing from the police how some one was making it uncomfortable for you by repeatedly robbing Americans in the towns where you went. The compromising position into which we put you at Ely kept you continually under suspicion, of course. So we sent for you as soon as we were able to. As soon as you rejoined us I began to feel that he was working against me again. Why, sometimes it seemed to me that he had made it a matter of honor to jail you, and maybe he felt that it was becoming as much a matter of honor for us to keep you free.

"Then at Polporru—that morning at Polporru! I couldn't comprehend much about 'wireless'—I can't understand it yet, very clearly—so I thought at first, when the police gave that description of you which I knew couldn't be correct, that the police had a plot 273