"Needn't tell me your game, young man," he rasped. "You think, because you were alone with my daughter, you can force me to pay hush money."
Blake rose to his feet with a look in his eyes before which Mr. Leslie shrank back and cringed.
"Wait! Sit down! sit down! I—I didn't mean that!" he exclaimed.
Blake drew in a deep breath and slowly sat down again. He said nothing, but puffed hard at his cigar.
Mr. Leslie rebounded from panic to renewed irascibility. "H'm! So you're one of that sort. I might have foreseen it."
Blake looked his indifference. "All right. That's the safety-valve. Blow off all the steam you want to through it. Only don't try the other again. You're her father, and that gives you a big vantage. Any one else have said what you did, he wouldn't have had the chance to take it back."
"Do you mean to threaten me?"
"I've smashed men for less."
"You look the part."
"It's not the part of a lickspittle."