"Of whom does the captain speak?" was his inquiry.
"Of _whom?_--of _him_--of _him_!" was the rather abrupt response of the
superior, who seemed to regard the ignorance of his lieutenant as to the
object in view, with almost as much wonder as that worthy entertained at
the moment for the hallucinations of his captain.
"Of whom should I speak--of whom should I think but the one--accursed,
fatal and singular, who--" and he stopped short, while his mind, now
comprehending the true relationship between himself and the person
beside him, which, in his moody self-examination, he had momentarily
forgotten, proceeded to his designs with all his wonted coherence.
"I wander, Dillon, and am half-asleep. The fact is, I am almost worn out
with this unslumbering motion. I have not been five hours out of the
saddle in the last twenty-four, and it requires something more of rest,
if I desire to do well what I have on hand--what, indeed, we both have
on hand."
There was something apologetic in the manner, if not in the language, of
the speaker; and his words seemed to indicate, if possible, an excuse
for the incoherence of his address, in the physical fatigue which he had
undergone--in this way to divert suspicion from those mental causes of
excitement, of which, in the present situation, he felt somewhat
ashamed.
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