"
"That is, if he's fool enough to come," observed Chinston.
"Oh, he'll come," said the detective, confidently, rattling a pair of
handcuffs together. "He is so satisfied that he has made things safe
that he'll walk right into the trap."
It was getting a little dusk, and the four men were greatly excited,
though they concealed it under an assumed nonchalance.
"What a situation for a drama," said Brian.
"Only," said Chinston, quietly, "it is as realistic as in the
old days of the Coliseum, where the actor who played Orpheus was torn
to pieces by bears at the end of the play."
"His last appearance on any stage, I suppose," said Calton, a little
cruelly, it must be confessed.
Meanwhile, Kilsip remained seated in his chair, humming an operatic air
and chinking the handcuffs together, by way of accompaniment. He felt
intensely pleased with himself, the more so, as he saw that by this
capture he would be ranked far above Gorby. "And what would Gorby
say?--Gorby, who had laughed at all his ideas as foolish, and who had been
quite wrong from the first. If only--"
"Hush!" said Calton, holding up his finger, as steps were heard echoing
on the flags outside. "Here he is, I believe."
Kilsip arose from his chair, and, stealing softly to the window, looked
cautiously out. Then he turned round to those inside and, nodding his
head, slipped the handcuffs into his pocket. Just as he did so, there
was a knock at the door, and, in response to Calton's invitation to
enter, Thinton and Tarbit's clerk came in with Roger Moreland.
Pages:
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339