Flynt sank silently into an armchair and rested his finger tips lightly together.
"Flynt," cried Mortmain, "what a terrible thing it is to deprive a fellow-creature of a limb. Is it legal? Is it not criminal?"
Flynt gazed fixedly at Sir Richard for a moment without replying.
"Situations sometimes arise," he remarked in a toneless voice, "where the results desired, even if they do not justify the means employed, at least render legal opinions superfluous."
"I do not understand you," groaned Mortmain. "Do you mean that what Sir Penniston proposes is a crime?"
"I mean that in a transaction of such moment the purely legal aspect of the case may be of slight importance."
"Exactly!" exclaimed Sir Penniston, whose face had assumed an expression of uneasiness. "To be sure! How plain he puts things, Mortmain. The law does not concern us when the integrity of the human body is involved."
"But if I require and insist upon your advice?" continued Mortmain. "You know that you are my solicitor."
"In a matter of this kind I should refuse to give an opinion in a specific case touching the interest of a client," returned Flynt.
"I must know the law!" cried the baronet.