“Give me the five hundred dollars,” he demanded. “It is yours the moment you pay me the money.”
Mescal stepped clear of the table, and by a sudden spring placed himself between Packard and the door. He was like a panther in his movements.
“What’s the matter with you?” asked Roland, in alarm. “What are you doing? Don’t think for a moment that you can take the message from me without paying the money.”
“You fool!” said Mescal, in a low tone. “You liar! You traitor!”
Packard saw there was trouble in the air. He wondered if in any manner this man could have discovered his trick.
“What do you mean by calling me such names?” he blustered.
“I mean just what I have said; you are a fool, a liar, and a traitor. You came here to deceive me!”
“To deceive you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”