The struggle for breath left Ledwith mute.
"Can't you walk and talk at the same time?" demanded Sprowl. "I need exercise."
"I've got to rest."
"Well, then, what have you got to say?—because I'm going on. What's the matter with you, anyway," he added sneeringly; "dope?"
"Partly," said Ledwith without resentment.
"What else?"
"Anxiety."
"Oh. Do you think you have a monopoly of that?"
Ledwith, without heeding the sneering question, went on, still resting on his elbow against the tree-trunk:
"I want to talk to you, Langly. I want straight talk from you. Do I get it?"