"For my character's sake! I am but beginning, you perceive."
"Oh, you're but beginning! You call this but beginning, do you? May I ask if you have any intention of going on?"
"Oh, sir, I have still nearly the whole three months in front of me! Until my term expires I shall go on, with gathering strength, unto the end."
As he said this Mankell drew himself up in such a way that it almost seemed as though some inches were added to his stature.
"You will, will you? Well, you seem to be a pleasant kind of man!" The criticism seemed to have been extracted from the governor almost against his will. He looked round upon his colleagues with what could only be described as a ghastly grin. "Have you any objection, Mankell, to being transferred to another prison?"
"Sir!" the prisoner's voice rang out, and his hearers started--perceptibly. Perhaps that was because their nerves were already so disorganised. "It is here I was sent, it is here I must remain--until the end."
The governor took out his handkerchief and wiped his brow.
"I am bound to tell you, Mankell, judging from the experiences of the last two days, if this sort of thing is to continue--with gathering strength!--the end will not be long."
The prisoner seemed lost in reflection. The officials seemed lost in reflection too; but their reflections were probably of a different kind.
"There is one suggestion I might offer."