Page:The Valley of Fear.pdf/194

Rh my hands,” said his enemy. “You’ll wish you had never set foot in this house before I am through with you!”

“No time like the present,” cried McMurdo.

“I’ll choose my own time, Mister. You can leave the time to me. See here!” he suddenly rolled up his sleeve and showed upon his forearm a peculiar sign which appeared to have been branded there. It was a circle with a triangle within it. “D’you know what that means?”

“I neither know nor care!”

“Well, you will know, I’ll promise you that. You won’t be much older, either. Perhaps Miss Ettie can tell you something about it. As to you, Ettie, you’ll come back to me on your knees,—d’ye hear, Girl, on your knees?—and then I’ll tell you what your punishment may be. You’ve sowed—and by the Lord, I’ll see that you reap!” He glanced at them both in fury. Then he turned upon his heel, and an instant later the outer door had banged behind him.

For a few moments McMurdo and the girl stood in silence. Then she threw her arms around him.

“Oh, Jack, how brave you were! But it is no [192]