"I am ready to hear you."
"It is well you are."
"If you have any threats to make, I will not remain."
"Let me speak only the truth," said Pillgrim, as he looked at his watch. "In twenty minutes from now, we shall all be in kingdom come."
There was a malignant smile on the face of the traitor as he spoke, and it was plain to Somers that the villain did not speak without a cause.
"Somers, you have beaten me in the last game we played. I shall beat in the next one."
"I told you I did not come here to listen to threats."
"You will be a dead man in seventeen minutes, Somers," continued Pillgrim, glancing at his watch again. "I could not deny myself the satisfaction of informing you of the fact. But, Somers, you will have the pleasure of knowing that I shall share your fate."
"What do you mean, you villain?" demanded Somers, horrified by the thought suggested by the traitor's words.
"Gently, my dear fellow. Don't use hard words. But I am glad to see you are moved. Ah, Somers, I have you now," said the wretch, in mocking tones.