“He has himself well in hand, but it struck me that it was done with great difficulty. He would have much liked to kill our friend Mast. Unemotional? Why, the man’s being burned alive with his emotions!”
“What emotions?”
“Not anger with Mast, nor sorrow, nor fear. There’s one white girl on the island—isn’t that explanation enough?”
“I hadn’t thought of it. It may be that you’re right. But that doesn’t affect the main thing—we have got to quit Faloo.”
“I agree with you that it doesn’t affect that. But still—do you play chess, Sir John?”
“Rarely, but I’m not your class, and I shouldn’t care for a game at the moment.”
“I had not meant to suggest it. And when you play what is the object of your attack?”
“The King, I suppose.”
“It is the same here—in Faloo—now. It is too simple to amount to a problem. We can win in one move.”