"Tired, my friend?" M. de Kervoisin queried amiably.
"Of course," the other replied curtly. "I have been up nearly two hours."
"The want of sleep," M. de Kervoisin murmured with an engaging smile. Then he added drily: "And I suppose some emotion . . ."
"Emotion?" the other broke in with a harsh laugh. "None, I assure you, save what is pleasurable."
"What? To see a woman shot?"
He who went by the strange appellation of Number Ten threw aside the chawed stump of his cigar, then he carefully selected a cigarette from M. de Kervoisin's case, and lit it leisurely before he replied:
"Yes, my friend . . . to see a woman shot. Have you never seen a human creature shot or hung?"
"No, never!" M. de Kervoisin replied with a shudder. "And I hope I never may."
"It is a thrill well worth experiencing," the other remarked and blew rings of cigarette smoke through his pursed lips. "Yes," he went on drily, "well worth experiencing."
"Ah!" M. de Kervoisin rejoined with a sigh, "you English are astonishing."