“I guess you’re trying to scare me, Bellamy,” he remarked.
But Bellamy was suddenly grave. There had come into his face an utterly altered expression. His tone, when he spoke, was almost solemn.
“Dorward,” he said, “upon my honor, I assure you that what I have told you is the truth. I cannot seem to make you realize the seriousness of your position. When you left the Palace with that paper in your pocket, you were, to all intents and purposes, a doomed man. Your passport and your American citizenship count for absolutely nothing. I have come in to warn you that if you have any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me now.”
“This is a pretty good bluff you’re putting up!” Dorward exclaimed contemptuously. “The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it.”
Bellamy shook his head.
“It is too late for that, Dorward,” he said. “If the seal were broken, they’d very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn’t help the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my forehead on the railway track.”
Dorward frowned uneasily.
“What are you here for, anyway, then?” he asked.
“Well, frankly, not to argue with you,” Bellamy answered. “As a matter of fact, you are of no use to me any longer. I am sorry, old man. You can’t say that I didn’t give you good advice. I am bound to play for my own hand, though, in this matter, and if I get any benefit at all out of my journey, it will be after some regrettable accident has happened to you.”
“Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!” Dorward exclaimed. “I’ve had about enough of it. I am not denying anything you say, but if these fellows really are on board, they’ll think twice before they meddle with me.”