'With her? With the girl?'
'She is--I have put her in the carriage! I swear I have! Oh!' he shrieked, as Mr. Pomeroy, in a fresh access of passion, gripped his throat and squeezed it. 'I have put her in the carriage, I tell you! I have done everything you told me!'
'In the carriage? What carriage? In what carriage?'
'The one that was there.'
'At the gate?'
'Yes, yes.'
'You fool! You imbecile!' Mr. Pomeroy roared, as he shook him with all his strength. 'The carriage is at the other gate.'
Mr. Thomasson gasped, partly with surprise, partly under the influence of Pomeroy's violence. 'At the other gate?' he faltered. 'But--there was a carriage here. I saw it. I put her in it. Not a minute ago!'
'Then, by heaven, it was your carriage, and you have betrayed me,' Pomeroy retorted; and shook his trembling victim until his teeth chattered and his eyes protruded. 'I thought I heard wheels and I came to see. If you don't tell me the truth this instant,' he continued furiously, 'I'll have the life out of you.'
'It is the truth,' Mr. Thomasson stammered, blubbering with fright. 'It was a carriage that came up--and stopped. I thought it was yours, and I put her in. And it went on.'