Page:Gaston Leroux--The bride of the sun.djvu/126

112 "The hood was up, señor, and the motor was traveling fast.... Nay, señor!... That is the truth. I swear it!"

Dick seized the man by the collar, and shook him like a rat

"What were you doing here? Why were you not with your mistress, at your post?"

"I meant no harm, señor. A Quichua offered me a drink here ... real pisco, señor."

Dick, without listening, dragged the protesting man through the streets and into the empty office. When he realized what had happened, Domingo would have torn his hair out with grief, but Dick, seizing him by the throat, drove him to the wall and looked into his eyes. A fool or a traitor, which was he?

Told to speak, and speak quickly, Domingo answered Dick's volley of questions without a minute's hesitation. The señorita could not have been carried off without the aid of Libertad, a rascally half-breed to whom the señorita had given work out of pity. The day and hour had been chosen by some one who knew the place well, for on Saturday afternoons there were no workmen or clerks on the premises.

"When you went out to drink, was the motor already waiting?"

"Yes, señor. It had been there half an hour."

"Was the hood up?"