There was a brief but horrible interlude.
"Well, you are cruel, doctor, not 'arf!—and me with only an hour or two to live,"—the man said with a cringing and sinister grin.
The doctor frowned and looked at the man steadily. Then he asked a sudden question.
"Who were your father and mother?" he said.
The convict looked at the doctor with startled eyes.
"Who told you?" he asked. "I thought nobody knew!"
"Answer my question, Hancock. Only a few minutes remain."
"Will it be of use, sir?"
"Of use?"
"In your work—It was so that I could leave a warning to others, that I wanted to see you."