There was an instance of silence. Then Spantz spoke, with a soft laugh: "You will not know so much to-morrow, Herr King. Give him the water, man. He has much to say to us, and he cannot talk with a dry throat."
"Nor an empty stomach," added King. He drank long of the pitcher that was held to his lips.
"This is not the Regengetz," growled a surly voice.
"You mean, I don't eat?"
"Not at midnight, my friend."
"It seems to be an all-night joint."
"Enough," cried Spantz. "Bring him out here. The others have come."
King was pushed out into the larger room, where he was confronted by a crowd of bewhiskered men and snaky-eyed women with most intellectual nose-glasses. It required but a glance to convince him that the whiskers were false.
For nearly an hour he was probed with questions concerning his business in Edelweiss. Threats followed close upon his unsatisfactory answers, though they were absolutely truthful. There was no attempt made to disguise the fact that they were conspiring against the government; in fact, they were rather more open than secretive. When he thought of it afterward, a chill crept over him. They would not have spoken so openly before him if they entertained the slightest fear that he would ever be in a position to expose them.
"We'll find a way to make you talk to-morrow, my friend. Starving is not pleasant."