'Now gather up these light
articles and steer for the door as accurately as you can, while I
gather up my inexpensive paletot and pay at the desk.'
"'If I had my way with this blasted restarong,' he observed with
sudden venom,' I'd raze it to the ground!'
"I walked over to the desk. I was right in supposing that ninepence
was the sum I should receive from the Esmeralda behind the brass
barrier. But her eyes were bright and interrogated me: the brass
trellis between us shone also with an unnatural lustre: I was dealing
with another man's money, and it seemed incumbent on me to count the
change twice, with care.
"While I was thus engaged, Farrell went past me for the door with the
shuffle and hard breathing of an elephant pursued by a forest fire.
"'Hurry!' he gasped.
"'What is it?' I demanded, catching him up on the fifth stair.
"He panted. 'I couldn't help it. . . . Sodom and Gomorrah
. . . basaltic, I've heard . . . we'd better run!'
"'What the devil have you done?' I asked, close to his ear.
"'Opened that stink-pot,' Farrell answered, taking two steps at a
time.
Pages:
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128