“You appear to take me for a born fool,” he cried, striding up and down.
“Not at all. I am only an agent carrying out the instructions of others.”
Potts suddenly stopped in his walk.
“Have you all those papers about you?” he hissed.
“All.”
Potts looked all around. The door was locked. They were alone. The stranger easily read his thought.
“No use,” said he, calmly. “Messrs. Bigelow, Higginson, & Co. would miss me if any thing happened. Besides, I may as well tell you that I am armed.”
The stranger rose up and faced Potts, while, from behind his dark spectacles, his eyes seemed to glow like fire. Potts retreated with a curse.
“Messrs. Bigelow, Higginson, & Co. instructed me to say that if I am not back with the money by to-morrow night, they will at once begin action, and have your son arrested. They will also inform Smithers & Co., to whom they say you are indebted for over £600,000. So that Smithers & Co. will at once come down upon you for payment.”
“Do Smithers & Co. know any thing about this?” asked Potts, in a voice of intense anxiety.