“That I may not tell you, but this I may: if you had been condemned, well—”
He blew a big cloud of smoke from his cigar, a cloud that obscured his face, and out of it he spoke enigmatically:
“Rest assured you will never be hung for the murder of Vladimir Selinski, although twenty English juries might pronounce you guilty! But enough of that. The question is will you return with me, or will you not? He has need of you; or thinks he has, which is the same thing; and I can smooth the way. There will be risks.”
“I know all about that,” I interrupted impatiently. “And I shall go with you, of course!”
“Of course,” he acquiesced phlegmatically. But, as he spoke, he held out his big blunt hand; and I gripped it hard.
CHAPTER XXXII
BACK TO RUSSIA ONCE MORE
Two days later I saw Lord Southbourne, and resigned my position as a member of his staff. I felt myself mean in one way, when I thought of how he had backed me right through that murder business,—and before it, when he set Freeman on my track.