"
"Monsieur," broke forth the prisoner, goaded beyond endurance by the
stifling heat and the stench of Hunch's pipe, "is it not enough to
imprison me here without reason, that you must taunt and gibe--" he
choked indignantly and stared desperately at the boarded windows.
"Let your voice out, do!" encouraged Carl. "We dispensed with the
caretaker days ago, fearing you'd feel restricted."
The other's face was livid.
"Monsieur!" he cried imperiously, his eyes flashing. "Take care!"
"I know," said Carl soothingly, "that you have deep, dark, sinister
possibilities within you--dear, yes! You tried something of the sort
on the Ridge Road. That's why your august head's so badly bruised.
But why aggravate your blood pressure now when it's so infernally hot
and you've work ahead. Hunch," he added carelessly to the admiring
henchman who had once dealt away successive slices of his inheritance,
"go get a pitcher of ice water and rustle up another siphon of seltzer
and some whiskey. Likely His Nibs and I will play chess again
to-night."
Hunch rose from a chair by the window where he had flattened his single
good eye against a knot hole, and slouched heavily to the door.
The face of the prisoner slowly whitened. Every muscle of his body
quivered suddenly in horrible revulsion.
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