I am no Pharisee; and where
Vice has its redeeming point, I say, let Vice have its due--yes,
yes, by all manner of means, let Vice have its due.
"What's the matter now, Jack?" says Mr. Jay.
"Can't you see it in my face?" says Jack. "My dear fellow, delays
are dangerous. Let us have done with suspense, and risk it, the
day after to-morrow."
"So soon as that?" cries Mr. Jay, looking very much astonished.
"Well, I'm ready, if you are. But, I say, Jack, is somebody else
ready, too? Are you quite sure of that?"
He smiled as he spoke--a frightful smile--and laid a very strong
emphasis on those two words, "Somebody else." There is evidently
a third ruffian, a nameless desperado, concerned in the business.
"Meet us to-morrow," says Jack, "and judge for yourself. Be in
the Regent's Park at eleven in the morning, and look out for us
at the turning that leads to the Avenue Road."
"I'll be there," says Mr. Jay. "Have a drop of brandy-and-water?
What are you getting up for? You're not going already?"
"Yes, I am," says Jack. "The fact is, I'm so excited and agitated
that I can't sit still anywhere for five minutes together.
Ridiculous as it may appear to you, I'm in a perpetual state of
nervous flutter. I can't, for the life of me, help fearing that
we shall be found out.
Pages:
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354