‘Ben!’
‘I’m coming,’ said Ben, as he entered the room.
‘Keep watch over this lady, Ben.’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘And if she tries to get away, or if she gives alarm, you will be so good as to cut her throat, Ben.’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘And don’t make a bungling job of it while you are about it. If you have to do it all, do it with humanity—that is to say, do it at once and effectually.’
‘Oh, yes; trust me for that, captain.’
The lady was now really alarmed.
Ben took from his pocket a large clasped knife, the blade of which he opened in a ferocious kind of way with his teeth, and with that in his hand, he kept an eye upon her.