"What countryman are you?"
"Italian."
"Thought you were a foreigner. Well! you stay here and I'll give you ten cents when I come back. If he wakes up, call me, by ringing the bell."
"Yes, ma'am."
The nurse at once quitted the room, and the Italian advanced to the bed, looking intently at Harkaway.
"It is he," he said in a low tone. "I have tracked him to his lair. Now for the medicine, but how to give it him? He will know me. Perhaps I had best wait for the nurse."
He handled the bottle, which was an ordinary two-ounce vial, and regarded it affectionately.
"Let him once swallow this," he added, "and he will never wake up more."
Harkaway moved restlessly in his sleep.
Had he an intimation that Bambino was near him, preparing to carry out another iniquitous scheme generated by his fertile brain?