“Now,” I said, “you must summon all your resolution. Act promptly and in half an hour you will be beyond reach of him.”
My own nerves were strung to devouring action. A kind of exultation fired me to master this tyranny of pursuit. Whatever might be its justification, the tactics of aggressive force should at least be open and human, I thought.
“You don’t want to pass the night here?”
He made a negative motion with his head.
“I think you’re right. It might only be postponing the end. Will you place yourself in my hands?”
He held out his arms to me imploringly.
“Very well. Now, listen to me. There he will remain in all likelihood for some time, not knowing he is discovered. We must give him the slip—escape quietly at the back, while he is intent on the front.”
I could only make out that his white lips whispered: “You won’t leave me?”
“Not till all danger is past. I promise you.”
I went over the house and quietly tested that every bolt and catch was secure. Then I fetched a dram of spirit, and made the poor, demoralized wretch swallow it. It brought a glint of color to his cheek—a little firmness to his limbs.