Murgatroyd laughed, and turning to Thorne, he went on:—
"Thorne, I sent for you to tell you to close up Cradlebaugh's—to close it up at once. If you don't——"
But Thorne's self-possession had come back, and he demanded fearlessly:—
"And what about you, Murgatroyd? Are your hands clean?"
The tiger leaped into Murgatroyd's face; his eyes flashed fire; the accuser became the fighter.
"I can take care of myself!" he answered quickly. "I'm talking about you, now. You are sworn as a counsellor to uphold the law; you have lined your pockets and built up your career with the coin of suicides, profligates, drunkards, like Challoner, for instance.
"Yes," he went on, "and there is something more between you and me than this, Thorne." His voice now dropped almost to a whisper: "You have the effrontery to pay attentions to——"
Thorne interrupted him, his tone, his glance, his manner leaping at once into insolence.
"So that's how the land lies, is it? Well, let me tell you something that possibly you already know. All my life I have had the things I wanted—all my desires have been fulfilled. I wanted money—I got it. I wanted power, social and political—I got it. I have never stopped; I have always progressed. You have already said that I would be Senator of the United States—if I could. I tell you that I shall! Again, you have hinted at a woman who is worth while.... Well, I'm going on and on and on, in spite of you——"
"You are going on to your finish," returned Murgatroyd. "I have only just begun with you. Before I go further, it may be just as well for you to relinquish the last two of your desires. I don't demand it—I advise it."