“What does it matter if I am or not?” demanded Vince. “We have to eat, don’t we? I’d rather eat poison every time in preference to starvation.”
The food was good and the brothers, not having eaten for twenty-four hours, did justice to it.
* * *
An hour later the same man who had conducted them to their cell appeared and took away the food.
“The captain says to tell you that he’s found gold,” he stated.
“Tell the captain that he’s found lead,” corrected Vince.
Hours passed. Ten times the Twin circled its mate in space. Still the work of mining the gold went on without a stop. Apparently Robinson had divided his crew into shifts and was working every minute. Greats pits were being gouged in the surface of the planetoid. It was plain that the pirate would not halt mining operations until either the ore pinched out or until his ship was loaded to capacity.
Food was served the prisoners at regular intervals and they slept when they felt sleepy. Part of the time they spent at the port watching the activity outside. They requested a deck of cards from their keeper and whiled away hours playing for immense imaginary stakes. Neither of them mentioned what lay in store for them. Neither was there talk of escape. They knew there was no escape.
Escape from the ship without space suits meant death of the most horrible kind on the airless surface of the asteroid. Escape even with space suits would have to be made in the face of the pirates swarming outside. Even if they were able to safely reach the Space Pup, they knew that the Star Wanderer carried weapons which could blast the little ship out of existence.
The Twin had circled its companion eighteen times when they were summoned out of their prison to face Robinson again. As they walked up the corridor with their keeper stalking in their wake, Vernon’s hand reached out and grasped his brother’s for just an instant in a bonecrushing clasp. They were walking the road to death. Not for a moment was there a doubt in their mind of that. It was not after the manner of Max Robinson to allow men he had plundered to live. It was not well for him to have too many men in the system hating him with that fierce hate which can only come through personal injury.