“I haven’t an idea.”
“I’ll tell you.”
“Do.”
“I am going to begin by cutting off your fingers one by one.”
“A nice idea!”
“Then I shall cut off your ears, your nose, and so on. I shall torture you by inches till you tell me what I wish to know!”
“You are a bigger coward than I thought!” observed Merry. “Not only that, but you are a brute of the lowest type, Brattle. You are not fit to mingle with men!”
“Oh, you may say what you like! I have to get revenge on you! You robbed me of Elsie! You ruined my business in New York! You put the police after me! You made it necessary for me to fly from the country!”
“What a fine thing that was for the country!”
“I followed you to England to get possession of that girl, and also to get square with you. In London you brought more trouble on me. Because of you, I lay weeks in a hospital. At first they said I might not recover, but I vowed that I would not die till I was able to say I had squared my debt with you. I lived, and I am here to square that debt!”