He reached the closed door, opened it, and stepped within.
His movements were swift and wholly without stealth, but they did
not make much sound. The man inside the room did not hear
immediately.
He was seated on the edge of the bed adjusting the strap of one of
his gaiters. Burke stood and watched him unobserved till he lifted
his head. Then with a curt, "Now!" he turned and bolted the door
behind him.
"Hullo!" said Guy, and got to his feet.
They stood face to face, alike yet unlike, men of the same breed,
bearing the same ineradicable stamp, yet poles asunder.
The silence between them was as the appalling pause between the
lightning and the thunder-clap. All the savagery of which the
human heart is capable was pent within its brief bounds. Then
Burke spoke through lips that were white and strangely twisted:
"Have you anything at all to say for yourself?"
Guy threw a single glance around. "Not here," he said. "And not
now. I'll meet you. Where shall I meet you?"
"Why not here--and now?" Burke's hands were at his sides, hard
clenched, as if it took all his strength to keep them there. His
eyes never stirred from Guy's face. They had the fixed and cruel
look of a hawk about to pounce upon its prey and rend it to atoms.
But there was no fear about Guy, neither fear nor shame. Whatever
his sins had been, he had never flinched from the consequences.
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