‘They mean no harm to you now.’
‘Harm to any one?’
A pause followed before his gruff voice answered:
‘Harm to nobody. What harm can be done when my gracious lord the Governor is on the island and watches over it?’
‘True, Demetri. He has small mercy for wrongdoers and turbulent fellows such as some I know of.’
‘I know him as well as you, my lord, and better,’ said the fellow. His voice was charged with a passionate hate. ‘Yes, there are many in Neopalia who know Mouraki.’
‘So says Mouraki; and he says it as though it pleased him.’
‘One day he shall have proof enough to satisfy him,’ growled Demetri.
The savage rage of the fellow’s tone had caught my attention, and I gazed intently into his face; not even the darkness quite hid the angry gleam of his deep-set eyes.
‘Demetri, Demetri,’ said I, ‘aren’t you on a dangerous path? I see a long knife in your belt there, and that gun—isn’t it loaded? Come, go back to your home.’