Page:Bentley- Trent's Last Case (Nelson, nd).djvu/144

136 servant,' added Mr. Bunner with emphasis, 'I don't see how a woman could mention such a subject to a man. But the French beat me.' He shook his head slowly.

'But to come back to what you were telling me just now,' Trent said. 'You believe that Manderson was going in terror of his life for some time. Who should threaten it? I am quite in the dark.'

'Terror–I don't know,' replied Mr. Bunner meditatively. 'Anxiety, if you like. Or suspense–that's rather my idea of it. The old man was hard to terrify, anyway; and more than that, he wasn't taking any precautions–he was actually avoiding them. It looked more like he was asking for a quick finish–supposing there's any truth in my idea. Why, he would sit in that library window, nights, looking out into the dark, with his white shirt just a target for anybody's gun. As for who should threaten his life–well, sir,' said Mr. Bunner with a faint smile, 'it's certain you have not lived in the States. To take the Pennsylvania coal hold-up alone, there were thirty thousand men, with women and children to keep, who would have jumped at the chance of drilling a hole through