"You fiend incarnate!" cried Jay Gardiner, hoarsely. "Remove these shackles, and meet me as man to man. Only a dastardly coward bullies a man who can not help himself." "Still defiant, my charming doctor!" laughed Wilde. "I marvel at that. I supposed by this time you would be quite willing to give me the information I desired." Jay Gardiner could not trust himself to speak, his indignation was so great. "_Au revoir_ again," sneered Wilde. "The day will pass and the night will follow, in the natural course of events. To-morrow, at this hour, I shall look in on you again, my handsome doctor. Look out for the rodents. Bless me! they are dashing over the floor. I must fly!" Again the door closed, and with a groan Jay Gardiner could not repress, he sunk to the floor, smiting it with his manacled hands, and wondering how soon this awful torture would end. CHAPTER XXIX. During the long hours of the night which followed, Jay Gardiner dared not trust himself to sleep for a single instant, so great was his horror of the rodents that scampered in droves across the damp floor of the cellar in which he was a prisoner. He felt that his brain must soon give way, and that Jasper Wilde would have his desire--he would soon be driven to insanity. He thought of Bernardine, who was waiting for him to return to her, and he groaned aloud in the bitterness of his anguish, in the agony of his awful despair. The manacles cut into his flesh, for his wrists had swollen as he lay there, and the burning thirst was becoming maddening. "Great God in Heaven! how long--ah, how long, will this torture last?" he cried. In the midst of his anguish, he heard footsteps; but not those for which he longed so ardently. A moment later, and Jasper Wilde stood before him. "Now let me tell you what my revenge upon the beautiful Bernardine will be for preferring _you_ to myself. I shall marry her--she dare not refuse when I have her here--that I warrant you. As I said before, I shall marry the dainty Bernardine, the cold, beautiful, haughty Bernardine, and then I shall force her to go behind the bar, and the beauty of her face will draw custom from far and near. "Nothing could be so revolting to her as this. It will crush her, it will kill her, and I, whose love for her has turned into hate--yes, deepest, deadly hate--will stand by and watch her, and laugh at her. Ha! ha! ha!" With a fury born of madness, Doctor Gardiner wrenched himself free from the chains that bound him, and with one flying leap was upon his enemy and had hurled him to the floor, his hand clutching Wilde's throat. "It shall be death to one or other of us!" he panted, hoarsely. But he had not reckoned that in his weak condition he was no match for Jasper Wilde, who for the moment was taken aback by the suddenness of the attack. * * * * *