The injection so quickly administered was a powerful one, however, and acted instantly. It sent a tingling sensation through Patsy’s veins. His strength deserted him, seeming to fly out through his toes and fingers. He tried to shout for help, but his tongue was palsied. Only a hollow gurgle came from his twitching lips.
Then, for it was all over in ten seconds, the light vanished, Guelpa’s half-smothered imprecations turned to silence, the grasp of merciless hands no longer could be felt, and Patsy lapsed into the realm of utter oblivion and was lowered to the floor, as limp and ghastly as if life had left him.
Doctor Guelpa straightened up and laid aside the syringe, while Draper thrust the revolver into his pocket.
“Easily done, doc, is right,” he said, grinning. “This was the only way. The meddlesome rat must have picked up a thread of some kind that led him here. There was nothing for us but to dispose of him before he could hand his information to others.”
“He meant it, nevertheless, when he said that Carter does not suspect me,” Doctor Guelpa declared. “We must get him, then, before he does suspect. It afterward might be too late.”
“That’s right, too,” Draper agreed quickly. “But can it be done?”
“It must be done,” Guelpa coolly insisted. “I know how and will turn the trick.”
“And then?”
“This game that we have been playing must be continued. We must throttle suspicion where we find it, and choke the cursed weed before it can spread.”
“That’s the stuff, all right.”