She opened her mouth for another attempt, and an oblong object was thrust between her teeth and lashed around her head. Once again she was left to herself. The excruciating pain produced by the new gag caused Judith to clench her teeth against it so as to relieve the pressure on the strained flesh.
Judith had lost all track of time when suddenly she felt the cords, binding her to the table leg, loosened, and, as consciousness left her, she was lifted upward, a dead weight.
CHAPTER XVIII
EDGED TOOLS
Robert Hale crossed the central hall and entered the library with characteristic haste. On finding only a solitary light burning, he stopped and switched on the other lamps until the library was flooded with light.
“Hello!” he exclaimed, catching sight of Major Richards standing in front of the fireplace. “Glad you are ready for dinner. It never fails, Joe, if I am hungry, Mrs. Hale is always late. She never has a well regulated appetite.”
Richards laughed. “Your wife told me not to change into a dinner coat,” he explained, glancing apologetically at his sack suit. “She said we were so late in getting back from Walter Reed Hospital that there was not time.”
“Beastly bore changing for dinner.” Hale wandered aimlessly about the library. “Agatha insists upon it, so”—a shrug completed the sentence. “See that you imbue Judith with the idea that you are master, and you will enjoy future peace of mind.”
“I cannot conceive of Judith’s ever requiring a master,” retorted Richards, a trifle heatedly, and Hale laughed.
“You are young and you haven’t been married long,” he remarked indulgently. “Where’s Judith?”
“She hasn’t come down yet.” Richards removed his foot from the brass fire iron and stood with his back to the mantel. “I plan to take Judith to Palm Beach on Thursday.”