"Then why didn't someone stop them?" He gestured angrily at the handsome young males wandering through the park. "All these men—why don't they rescue Paul?"
This suggestion so shocked Miss Terry that she stopped weeping. "That's impossible! There'd be violence. Someone might get killed!"
"They think of that with a boy's life at stake?" Staghorn felt his rage rising. He was an irascible man by nature and had controlled himself so far only because he knew he was part of an illusion. The sense of illusion was fading rapidly, however. The guiding principles of morals and ethics were themselves abstractions and therefore operated just as powerfully in an abstract universe. He grasped Miss Terry by the arm.
"I'll go after him myself. Where do I find him?"
"You can't find him! If you follow they'll capture you too!"
"I'll chance that! Where have they gone?"
"I can't tell you! They might punish me!"
Staghorn shook her heartily, ignoring the fact that she was over fifty. "Tell me! It so happens that besides Paul, they've captured Dr. Clarence Peccary, and I'm responsible for his life!"
At this statement Miss Terry let out a cry of horror. "They've caught Dr. Peccary? No! No!"
"They most certainly have. So hurry up and tell me—"