“Don’t move!”
“But, my dear fellow——”
“Hold! Address no words of kindness to me, for they are thrown away upon one whose duty it is to slay.”
“But it surely isn’t your duty to kill me!”
“Aye—you, too.”
“But what have I done to you?”
“It matters not. Mankind has done enough to me. I am appointed to slay, and slay I will!”
“It’s nice to know your duty so clearly,” said the officer easily. “But aren’t you liable to make a mistake?”
“No! Never a mistake. Once I might have made a mistake. That was when I believed I was called of God to kill the redskins only. I know better now.”
“Well!” murmured the officer, hoping to catch the madman off his guard, if only for a moment.