"Here, all you've got to do now is to pull. Get her on her feet first and one of you keep her from falling."
He waited a moment. But Otto and Conrad were whispering to each other; and he exclaimed:
"Look here, hurry up, will you? . . . Remember I'm making a pretty easy target, if they took it into their heads to send a bullet or an arrow at me. Are you ready?"
The two assistants did not reply.
"Well, this is a bit thick! What's the matter with you? Otto! Conrad!"
He leapt to the ground and shook them:
"You're a pair of nice ones, you are! At this rate, we should still be at it to-morrow morning . . . and the whole thing will miscarry . . . . Answer me, Otto, can't you?" He turned the light full on Otto's face. "Look here, what's all this about? Are you wriggling out of it? If so, you'd better say so! And you, Conrad? Are you both going on strike?"
Otto wagged his head:
"On strike . . . that's saying a lot. But Conrad and I would like a word or two of explanation?"
"Explanation? What about, you pudding-head? About the lady we're executing? About either of the two brats? It's no use taking that line, my man. I said to you, when I first mentioned the business, 'Will you go to work blindfold? There'll be a tough job and plenty of bloodshed. But there's big money at the end of it.'"