No sound escaped him for a few minutes, then he gasped:
“Who is—he?”
“Myself.”
“What!”
“Yes. I want my freedom—and all that freedom means. Fifty thousand pounds you 307 said—plus ten per cent. Here they are—275,000 dollars, with the exchange in your favor. Take them!”
She put the notes in the center of the table, but he made no attempt to touch them. They were still there an hour later when she came from her own room to fetch something she had left in his. He was still sitting there, staring at them.
“Jim, I’m going back to-morrow,” she said. “The Topeka sails at eight o’clock. I shan’t stay to breakfast. I thought I would let you know.”
He nodded, then as she was leaving:
“Maybe you wouldn’t mind me seeing you off?”
“I should be very glad,” she said indifferently.