Page:Arthur Stringer - The Hand of Peril.djvu/214

 father followed him to Abbazzia and he was in the hospital at Fiume for over three weeks!"

"Yes," mocked Morello, "he watched over you then, because you were of use to him. He watched over you the same as a circus manager watches over an animal in a cage! Oh, yes, he took good care of you—the same care that a track-racer takes of his horse! He took care of you because he had use for you. He kept others away so that you could serve him and his ends. He put you in a cage, and fed you and kept you warm. He taught you the tricks he needed. He decked you out in fine feathers and let you idle about in soft places—but he did that because it paid him to do it! And it paid him to see that you were always alone, and he kept you always alone!"

"That's not true! You know it's not true! He kept my life clean, he kept it decent, no matter what it cost, because he was my father and he cared for me!"

"How much has he cared?" demanded Morello. "The same as a crook cares for his capper! The same as a rabbit-hunter cares for his ferret! And when he thinks you cannot be of use to him, he will drop you, the same as he would drop an old shoe!"

Kestner had to strain his ear to catch the girl's answer above the din of the piano-pounding in the nearby apartment.

"That is my father you are speaking of," he could hear the quavering voice reply, and it rose in pitch as the phrase was repeated, "my father—do you hear!"