"Frightens me! I’m not frightened; but why the devil have you brought me to this spot, of all others?" "Was there ever spot more beautiful? Why, it is a bower fit for lovers," Burke replied, softly. "Fit for the devil an’ his bride, mebbe, but not for honest men. Why, the place’s damned, Burke." "Damned, Blott! Why damned? There is not a spot on earth more peaceful. Doves coo in the trees yonder, and birds nest there; but I see your old trouble is coming on again," Burke replied, more softly than at first, if that were possible. "Curse you, Burke, an’ your soft speech! My trouble ain’t comin’ on, but this place’s enough to give a man the jimjams. It’s haunted an’ I’d rather visit the devil in his den than come here." "You talk wildly, Blott. It is safe, and what more does one want? There is the gallows rotting away, and under it five good men as ever risked their lives for money; but harmless, Blott, harmless. They will never cast a shadow more, and the traveler may go his way for all the harm they can do him. Then why cry out, Blott?" Burke queried, in his purring voice. "What these men come to you an’ I’ll come to, an’ I don’t care to be reminded of it. So let’s leave the spot." "What silly talk, Blott! what silly talk! Here no one comes, and here we are free from prying eyes. Fools think the hut is haunted, and that is why I have chosen it for a hiding-place. There is no spot on earth so safe, Blott." "There’s other places secure enough for me, an’ I’d rather stand in the open than hide here and be safe," Blott answered, in anger. "Will you never stop, Blott, will you never stop? I shall lose my temper, I am afraid, and it is always bad for those about me when I do," Burke answered, his voice, if possible, more subdued than before. "You can’t put off the day you will hang by shutting your eyes, and what is there to fear from the graves of dead men or a rotting gibbet? You put me out, Blott." "I don’t care whether I put you out or not. I’m no boy," Blott answered, impatiently. "Surely not! surely not! But we must have a hiding-place, and what one so safe as this, which every man shuns?" "I’m not afeerd, but I don’t like the company," Blott answered gloomily. "These men will never betray us. Do they cry out that it was I who fired the shot for which they were hung? Not a bit of it. Give me dead men when there is anything to hide." "You’re the devil’s own, Burke." "Perhaps, Blott, perhaps; but what has the devil done to you or me that we should be afraid of him?" "Why’ve we come here, anyway, I’d like to know?" Blott asked. "Our man’ll not cross this cursed valley, an’ while we’re foolin’ away our time he’ll pass, an’ so we’ll lose him." "There you go again, Blott! I told you he was not to start till one o’clock? So we have time and to spare," Burke answered, in his low, purring way. "How do you know he’ll not start till one? Or how do you know he’s comin’ at all, for that matter?" Blott replied.