Page:Biggers and Ritchie - Inside the Lines.djvu/211

 know, General—I might," he murmured. "I've been away from the drink so long that"

"Where do you want to go?" General Crandall cut him off. "Of course, you don't want to stay here indefinitely."

"Well—if I had a bit of money—they tell me everybody's broke in Paris. Millionaires—and everybody, you know. You can get a room at the Ritz for the asking. That would be heaven for me—if I had something in my pocket."

"You want to go to Paris, eh?" General Crandall stepped closer to Capper, and his eyes narrowed in scorn.

"If it could be arranged, yes. General." Capper was spinning the brim of his bowler between nervous fingers. He did not dare meet the other's glance.

"Demmit, Capper! You come here to blackmail me! I've met your kind before. I know how to deal with your ilk."

"So help me, General, I came here to tell you the truth. I want to go to Paris—or anywhere away from here; I'll admit that. But that had nothing to do with my coming all the way here from Alexandria—spending my last guinea on a steamer ticket—to warn you of your danger.