Page:The House On The Cliff.pdf/165

 be a lot hungrier later on. And thirsty, too. You'll be ready to sell your soul for a drop of water or a bite to eat."

"I won't sign."

"After all, we're not asking very much. You've discovered a number of things that we want you to forget about. It won't hurt you to go back to Bayport and say that you couldn't find out anything about us. Nobody knows where you have been."

"I've found out all I wanted to know about you, Snackley. I've got enough evidence to send you to the penitentiary for the rest of your life. And I have more than that."

"What do you mean—more than that?"

"I know enough to have you sent to the electric chair."

There was a sudden commotion in the room and two or three of the smugglers began talking at once.

"You're crazy!" shouted Snackley, but there was a current of uneasiness in his voice. "You're crazy. You don't know anything about me."

"I know enough to have you sent up for murder."

"All the more reason why you're not going to get out of here without signing this paper. You can count yourself lucky you have even this chance of getting out alive. By all rights