Page:The Whisper on the Stair by Lyon Mearson (1924).djvu/164

 last night. If I had my way, I’d knock yer fer a row a’ red, white an’ blue barber poles, git me?”

Val nodded. “I think I perceive what you’re trying to tell me, rat face,” said Val. “You mean that you won’t give me a drink of water, don’t you?”

“Dead right, kid,” exclaimed the guard. “An’ don’t try that bribe stuff on me or anyone around here agen. I might git insulted an’ pop yer one on th’ bean, see!”

“Is it possible?” retorted Val.

“Don’t git sarcastical, young feller,” said Rat. “You’ll soon find out if it’s possible to insult me, if yer keep it up. I’m goin’ out, now an’ I don’t want to be bothered. If I have to come in agen to yer, I’ll put yer where ya kin hear the boidies sing.”

With dignity he withdrew.

Val had to smile, in spite of his disappointment. That little sally of his last night had really done him a great deal of harm, he reflected. It had earned him the enmity of his guards, who, under ordinary circumstances, might have been amenable to a bribe.

As for Teck, he was not afraid of him, nor of his threats, for the simple reason that he did not think that even he would dare to carry them into execution. It is one thing to threaten to kill a man, and it is still another to proceed to carry out said threat in cold blood. Not that he did not think Teck capable of murder; far from that. But he did think that the project was too dangerous, even for Teck. For that reason he resolved to stick it out. Teck would bring pressure to bear—he was sure of that—but he was also sure that Teck would stop at murder.

It was easy to see why Teck wanted him out of the way. In the first place, he was a disturbing element in an affair that was going the way Teck wanted it to go,