Now, it happened that Joe and his guest slept in opposite corners of the room. Rafferty discovered Joe, but was entirely ignorant of the presence of another person in the apartment.
Joe waked on being rudely shaken.
“Who is it?” he muttered drowsily.
“Never mind who it is!” growled Jack in his ear. “It’s a man that’ll kill you if you don’t give up all the money you’ve got about you!”
Joe was fully awake now, and realized the situation. He felt thankful that he was not alone, and it instantly flashed upon him that Watson had a revolver. But Watson was asleep. To obtain time to form a plan, he parleyed a little.
“You want my money?” he asked, appearing to be confused.
“Yes—and at once! Refuse, and I will kill you!”
I won’t pretend to deny that Joe’s heart beat a little quicker than its wont. He was thinking busily. How could he attract Watson’s attention?
“It’s pretty hard, but I suppose I must,” he answered.
“That’s the way to talk.”