They carry a wireless now,
these big steamers. Don't give a criminal much of a chance, does
it?"
"I am to understand, then," Sir Timothy said calmly, "that you
have laid your information?"
"I've parted with it and serve you right," was the bitter reply.
"I'm not saying that you're not a brave man, Sir Timothy, but
there's such a thing as being foolhardy, and that's what you are.
I wasn't asking you for half your fortune, nor even a dab of it,
but if your life wasn't worth a few hundred pounds--you, with all
that money--well, it wasn't worth saving. So now you know. I've
spent ninepence to give you a chance to hop it, because I met a
gent who has been good to me. I've had a good dinner and I feel
merciful. So there you are."
"Do I gather," Sir Timothy asked, in a perfectly level tone,
"that the deed is already done?"
"It's already done and done thoroughly," was the uncompromising
answer. "I'm not ringing up to ask you to change your mind. If
you were to offer me five thousand now, or ten, I couldn't stop
the bally thing. You've a sporting chance of getting away if you
start at once. That's all there is to it."
"You have nothing more to say?"
"Nothing! Only I wish to God I'd never stepped into that Mayfair
agency. I wish I'd never gone to Mrs.
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