“I heard nothing,” Marion answered, listening.
“I thought I heard footsteps on the porch.”
“Maybe it’s Ben, who decided to come anyhow,” said the girl.
“But he’d knock!” whispered the mother.
The door flew open with a crash, and four black brutes leaped into the room, Gus in the lead, with a revolver in his hand, his yellow teeth grinning through his thick lips.
“Scream now, an’ I blow yer brains out,” he growled.
Blanched with horror, the mother sprang before Marion with a shivering cry:
“What do you want?”
“Not you,” said Gus, closing the blinds and handing a rope to another brute. “Tie de ole one ter de bedpost.”
The mother screamed. A blow from a black fist in her mouth, and the rope was tied.