Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/207

Rh did n't ye?" he repeated, shaking his helpless prisoner savagely as he spoke.

Russell, whose eyes could be seen above the bandage on his face, and in which an expression of great fear had appeared, nodded his head.

"Oh, ye did, did ye? Did ye want to see him real bad?"

Again Russell helplessly nodded his head.

"Well, here he is! Here he stands right in front o' ye. Ye satisfied now?"

The prisoner indicated that his satisfaction was complete.

"Now, then, ye want t' go back, I s'pose t' Claud Brown and his gang. I 've a mind t' let ye go, and then ye can tell 'em that ye asked me to tell ye where Robert Dorlon was. Ye might tell 'em, too, that I even went so far 's to stand him right in front o' yer eyes an' that ye did n't 'pear t' be a bit better satisfied then than ye were afore. But I'm not goin' t' send ye back now. Not just now. I can't bear to have ye leave me"—

"Josh will be back here in a minute," interrupted Robert.

"Let him come," said Jacob; "we 'll serve him the same way."

"No! no!" protested Robert. He whispered