The Black Sailor’s voice had become harsh and menacing, and the Professor started from his chair to meet the attack which he anticipated. But the Black Sailor waved him back again with an imperious gesture. “Sit down, Dr. Priestley!” he commanded. “I have not yet finished what I must say and you must hear. You need fear no violence, unless you attempt to escape from this room. But you are far too sensible to make any such attempt, which, as you see, would be futile. I could overpower you in an instant, and I should then be compelled to bind you hand and foot and gag you. A most humiliating situation for you, Dr. Priestley, and one uncomfortably reminiscent of the methods of the hangman, to whose care you delivered Dr. Morlandson, you remember.” The Professor sank back into his chair. He realized that the Black Sailor was right, that in any struggle he must inevitably be overcome, and resistance would probably lead to his immediate death. If he were to leave this room alive, it must be by strategy rather than force. It was unthinkable that the Black Sailor would release him now that he had confessed the full details of his murderous campaign. He could only bide his time, seeking some means of extricating himself from this desperate situation. But what did the man mean by his assurance that he would employ no violence? Meanwhile the Black Sailor had continued, in the deep, pleasant voice which had been one of the most striking attributes of Mr. Ludgrove. “This is the vengeance which I had planned for you, Dr. Priestley. But, unfortunately, my plans have been thwarted. Long ago, when Dr. Morlandson was alive, he warned me that, well set up and healthy as I appeared to be, my heart was affected by organic disease. He told me frankly that it might be many years before it seriously affected my health, and that, with reasonable care, I might expect to attain the average term of years. But at the same time he warned me that my trouble might at any time become acute, and he described to me the symptoms which would be my signal to prepare for death. “Those symptoms developed last week, Dr. Priestley, and I knew that I had only a short while longer to live. But I was determined not to die leaving the vengeance which had been bequeathed to me unaccomplished. I had sworn to be the instrument of justice upon those who had destroyed Dr. Morlandson’s life, for that life had been destroyed just as surely as though his original sentence had been carried out. And of those who had incurred the guilt, only you remained, Dr. Priestley.