heard an oath. De Boer's head and shoulders appeared in the window oval! His levelled projector came through. Perhaps he would not have fired, but I did not dare take the chance. I was crouching almost under the muzzle, so I straightened, gripped it, and flung it up. I then slashed at his face with my knife, but he gripped my wrist with powerful fingers. My knife fell as he twisted my wrist. His projector had not fired. It was jammed between us. One of his huge arms reached in and encircled me.
"Damn you!"
He muttered it, but I shouted, "Fool! De Boer, the bandit!"
I was aware of a commotion out in the garden.
"... Bring all Nareda on our ears? De Boer, shut him up!"
I was gripping the projector, struggling to keep its muzzle pointed upwards. With a heave of his giant arms De Boer lifted me and jerked me bodily through the window. I fell on my feet, still fighting. But other hands seized me. It was no use. I yielded suddenly. I panted:
"Enough!"
They held me. One of them growled. "Another shout and we will leave you here dead. Commander, look!"
My shirt was torn open. The electrode band about my chest was exposed! De Boer towered head and shoulders over me. I gazed up, passive in the grip of two or three of his men, and saw his face. His heavy jaw dropped as he gazed at my little diaphragms, the electrode.
He knew now for the first time that this was no private citizen he had assaulted. This official apparatus meant that I was a Government agent.