"Fool! Be more explicit, and you are safe. Be open and candid with me, and not a hair of your head shall suffer injury. What do you mean by asking me if I have heard anything more of him?"
"Don't throttle me."
"Speak."
"I—I can't while you hold me so tight. I—I—can—hardly—breathe."
Todd took his hands off him, and crossing his arms over his breast, he said in tones of most unnatural calmness—
"Now speak."
"Well, Mr. Todd—I—I—only—."
"You only what?"
"Asked you naturally enough, if you had heard anything of the boy Tobias Ragg, you know, since he ran away from Fogg's. That's all."
"Since he what?"