Page:Arthur Stringer - The Hand of Peril.djvu/295



was not sure of his man until he felt the stiifened body relax and the arms fall away. Then he rolled over, heavily, uncouthly, so that he stood straddling the other figure, one knee on each side of the heaving lungs, but with a hand held close on the sinewy throat.

"I've got you!" he gasped, a little drunkenly.

He still held the great throat with one hand while the other explored the shaking body, every pocket and garment, to see that nothing was there which ought not to be there. He remembered, to his sorrow, that he had come without a pair of hand-cuffs. And from now on he would take no risks. He had learned his lesson, with this gang; henceforth he would act as an official, and not as an individual. And the Law was relentless.

"It's taken a long time, Lambert," he mumbled foolishly through the darkness. "A long time—but now I've got you!"

He sat back, trying to think connectedly, his body burning with its innumerable cuts and bruises. His hip was still bleeding a little. But he knew it was only a flesh wound. He could also feel the slow trickle of blood down one side of his stiffened face. What troubled him most was his thirst. He would have given