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Page 85
CHAPTER XIX
WE HAVE A RECKONING WITH CLUBFOOT
I looked at Clubfoot.
I must play him with caution, with method, too.
Only by acting on a most exact system could I hope to hold him in that
room for two hours. I had four points to argue with him and I would
devote half an hour to each of them by the clock on the bracket above
his head. If only I could keep him confident in his victory, I might
hope to prevent him finding out that I was playing with him ... but two
hours is a long time ... it would be a near thing.
One point in my favour ... my manner gave him the assurance of success
from the start. There was nothing counterfeit about my tone of humility,
for in truth I was very near despair. I was making this last effort at
the bidding of my brother, but I felt it to be a forlorn hope: in my
heart of hearts I knew I was down and out.
So I went straight to the point and told Clubfoot that I was beaten,
that he should have his paper. But there were difficulties about the
execution of both sides of the bargain. We had deceived one another.
What mutual guarantees could we exchange that would give each of us the
assurance of fair play?
Clubfoot settled this point in characteristic fashion. He protested his
good faith elaborately, but the gist of his remarks was that he held the
cards and that, consequently, it was he who must be trusted, whilst I
furnished the guarantee.
Whilst we were discussing this point the clock chimed the half-hour.
I switched the conversation to Monica. I was not at all concerned about
myself, I said, but I must feel sure in my mind that no ill should
befall her. To this Clubfoot replied that I might set my mind at ease:
the moment the document was in his hands he would give orders for her
release: I should be there and might see it done myself.
What guarantee was there, I asked, that she would not be detained before
she reached the frontier?
Clubfoot was getting a little restless. With his eye on the clock but in
a placid voice he again protested that his word was the sole guarantee
he could offer.
We discussed this too. My manner was earnest and nervous, I know, and I
think he enjoyed playing with me. I told him frankly that his reputation
belied his protestations of good faith. At this he laughed and
cynically admitted that this was quite possibly the case.
"Nevertheless, it is I who give the guarantee," he said in a tone that
brooked no contradiction.
The clock struck eleven.
One hour to go!
"Come, Okewood," he added good-naturedly, "we waste time. Up to this
you've had all the sport, you know. You wouldn't have me miss the first
day's shooting I've had this year. Where have you got this letter of
ours?"
He was an extraordinary man. To hear him address me, you would never
have supposed that he was sending me to my death. He appeared to have
forgotten this detail. It meant so little to him that he probably had.
I turned to my third point. He made things very hard for me, I said, but
I was the vanquished and must give way. The trouble was that the
document was still in two portions and neither half was here.
"You indicate where the halves are hidden," said Clubfoot promptly. "I
will accompany you to the hiding-places and you will hand them to me."
"But they are nowhere near here," I replied.
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