I looked at him keenly but pleasantly.
“You are going to load my revolver, and go over to Paradise and take that balloon from these bandits?” I asked, smiling.
“An order is all right, but it is the more formal when backed by a bullet,” he said.
“Do you mean to tell me that you were preparing to go over into that hornet’s nest alone?”
He shrugged his shoulders with a reckless laugh.
“Give me my revolver,” I said, coldly.
His face fell. “Let me take it, Mr. Scarlett,” he pleaded; but I refused, and made him hand me the weapon. 350
“Now,” I said, sternly, “I want to know what the devil you mean by attempting suicide? Do you suppose that those ruffians care a straw for you and your order? Kelly, what’s the matter with you? Is life as unattractive as all that?”
His flushed and sullen face darkened.
“If you want to risk your life,” I said, “you have plenty of chances in your profession. Did you ever hear of an aged aëronaut? Kelly, go back to America and break your neck like a gentleman.”