This was the
natural thing for such a man to do in the circumstances, and equally
natural that he should dash out to find a supper companion--some
accommodating fellow whose presence would account for the table with
its two places.
But that he--he, of all men in New York, should be the accommodating
fellow found to screen the beast from punishment! This was the
astounding thing--the terrible thing--and yet, the providential thing.
Through Logan and the coincidence which had brought them together at a
certain moment in the hall of the New Cosmopolitan Club, Petro told
himself that he would by and by reach Winifred Child. It was a hateful
combination of circumstances; but finding her thus would be no worse
than discovering a rare jewel in a toad's head.
While the two detectives tossed off their champagne Peter Rolls sat
still, his thoughts flashing on behind a face deprived of all
expression, as a screen of motionless dark trees can hide the white
rush and sparkle of a cataract. His vague contempt for Jim Logan had
turned in the last few minutes to active loathing, even to hatred. He
wanted the fellow punished, as he would have wanted a rattlesnake to
have its poison fangs drawn.
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