Blossom made a sign with his hand; the four policemen seized the convict and bore him into the second room, while Blossom held the light over the dead man's livid face and bloody chest.
"Do you see that bullet-hole?" said Blossom; "the pistol was found a-side of your bed, near your hand. Gallus, you'll have to dance on nothin', I'm werry much afeard you will. But it 'ill take a strong rope to hang you."
"What!" shouted Ninety-One, "you don't mean to say,—" he cast a horrified look at the dead man, and then, like a flash of lightning, the whole matter became as plain as day to him. "Oh, Thirty-One," he groaned between his set-teeth, "this is your dodge,—is it? Oh, Thirty-One, this is another little item in our long account."
"What do you say?" asked one of the policemen. Ninety-One relapsed into a dogged silence. They could not force another word from him. Carrying him back into the first room, they laid him on the bed, and secured his ankles and wrists with additional cords. Meanwhile, they could peruse at their leisure, that face, whose deep jaw, solid chin, and massive throat, covered with a stiff beard, manifested at once, immense muscular power, and an indomitable will. The eyes of the convict, overhung by his bushy brows, the cheeks disfigured by a hideous scar, the square forehead, with the protuberance in the center, appearing amid masses of gray hair,—all these details, were observed by the spectators, as they added new cords to the ankles and the wrists of Ninety-One.
His chest shook with a burst of laughter, "Don't give it up so easy!" he cried, "I'll be even with you yet, Thirty-One."
"S'arch all the apartments,—we must find his comrade," exclaimed Blossom,—"a pale-faced young devil, whom I seen with him, last night, in the cars."
Ninety-One started, even as he lay pinioned upon the bed.—"Oh, Thirty-One," he groaned, "and you must bring the boy in it, too, must you? Just add another figure to our account."
The four rooms were thoroughly searched, but the comrade was not found.
"Come, boys," said Blossom, "we'll go down-stairs and talk this matter over. Gallus," directing his conversation to Ninety-One, "we'll see you again, presently."
Ninety-One saw them cross the threshold, and heard the key turn in the lock. He was alone in the darkness, and with the dead.