“Where?”
He named two different prisons.
“The charges?” I asked next.
“I am not instructed to mention them, monsieur.”
“Then I am not going,” I said firmly.
“Pray consider, monsieur. Resistance will be quite useless.”
“I have considered, I assure you; and I shall resist. If your instructions are to kill me or maim me, you may obey them, if you wish. But I do not move from here alive, and as I am a citizen of the United States, my death may be a circumstance.”
“Let me persuade you, monsieur.”
“You can try if you like;” and try he did for over a quarter of an hour of invaluable time, at the end of which he was in despair, and I was as obdurate as ever.
“When Mr. Marvyn returns and advises me to go, I’ll go; but until then I refuse point blank. You are too courteous a man to make a good butcher, I am sure, and I can put up an excellent fight at need.”