"I am helpless to arrest your steps just at present," groaned the
detective. "Would you do it after what has happened, if you were in a
condition to do so?" demanded the convict, bending over the man on the
ground, regarding him with a menacing look.
"Duty often calls one to do that which is disagreeable," answered Dyke
Darrel. A deep frown mantled the brows of the convict.
"I see that my mercy was misdirected," he said. "It seems that I have
saved your life only to give you a chance to dog me to doom. Think you
I am fool enough to permit this?"
There was a menace in the man's voice that Dyke Darrel did not like.
"I am at present helpless," he said. "I don't imagine you will harm a
man who is in no condition to injure you if he would."
"But you can talk. The first man who comes along will hear from you
that an escaped convict is in the rural districts of New York, and a
telegram will set ten thousand officers on the lookout for me. Without
such information I would not be recognized in this community. I am a
desperate man, Dyke Darrel, and do not propose to sacrifice myself for
your benefit."
"What will you do?"
"One of two things."
"Well?"
"You must solemnly swear that you will never reveal to another that I
am in this region, and swear also to make no effort to capture me
under a month, or else I shall have a painful duty to perform.
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