"Hold on, Marston!" the nervous voice protested, eagerly. "Come back a
minute! And don't talk so loud. That new doctor's on this floor
somewhere. I was asleep when they brought him in half dead last night,
and the night clerk, Jones, put him on this floor somewhere. Be patient.
A man can't risk his life and reputation without thinking about it. Sit
down just a minute and let me think."
Some unintelligible grumbling was the only reply Glenning could hear,
but he judged from the silence which followed that both men were still
there. He took advantage of this lull in the conversation to put his
eye to the keyhole. A compactly built, brutish looking man was in his
line of vision, sprawled in a chair directly facing him. Glenning would
have recognized anywhere the one who had vainly tried to enter The
Prince's stall. He was an evil appearing man. His shoulders were very
broad, and his neck was so thick and short that his round head seemed to
spring from his body. He was flashily dressed, with knee length riding
boots of russet leather. His face was sensual and cruel; his straight
black hair grew low upon his forehead. His eyes were small and set close
to his nose, and his upper teeth habitually showed, like a wolf's. A
heavy scowl sat upon his features from his present ill humour. The
watcher at the keyhole felt a great wave of repulsion surge over him as
he beheld this being in the shape of man, and unconsciously his heart
hardened. Nothing was visible of the second occupant of the room except
the toe of one shoe, which kept up an incessant tattoo on the worn
carpet. Two minutes passed, and Glenning noted that the figure fronting
him was growing restless. The frown on his low forehead deepened into
threatening furrows and he began to strike his boots with the whip he
carried. Suddenly he sat upright.
"Out with it, man!" he hissed. "Don't dally here till the morning's
gone! Are you going to do it or not?"
The tattoo ceased, and the foot was withdrawn from view. Then its owner
came within the radius of the little circle formed by the keyhole. He
walked straight to the burly figure in the chair, and bent down to
whisper his decision. The man on watch could only see his back. He was a
low, thin person, wearing a brown checked suit. Glenning swiftly put his
ear to the little opening, and listened with the greatest intensity. It
was of the utmost importance that he should hear the outcome of the
plot. But only elusive murmurs reached him, and not a word could he
hear. Observation was his second chance; the only one left. Again he
brought his eye to bear. Both men were standing now, close together.
They had come to a satisfactory understanding, for the heavy man's face
had lightened, and he had one hand laid in a confiding way upon the
shoulder of his confederate. Then they passed from the room, whispering
as they went.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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