Suppose I choose to kill you?”
“You won’t dare do it. We are not in the woods now.”
Tony had hit the truth. Rudolph did not dare to kill him, though he would have been glad to. But he knew that he would himself be arrested, and he had more to live for now than formerly. He had an income, and comfortably provided for, and he did not choose to give up this comfortable and independent life.
No,” he said, “I won’t kill you; but I will be revenged
for all that. First I will keep you from that generous friend of yours.”
“What will he think has become of me?” thought Tony, uneasily.
A thought came to him. He would appeal to the man’s love of money.
Rudolph,” he said, “I am afraid my friend will be uneasy about me. If you will let me go I will give you ten pounds that I have in my pocket.”
“I don’t believe you have so much money,” said Rudolph, cunningly.
Tony fell into the snare unsuspectingly. He drew out his pocketbook and displayed two five-pound notes on the Bank of England.