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Page 26
He flung Asa into a big, ragged chair, and, throwing his goggles
and hat on the table, sat down opposite Asa, and lighted a
cigarette. Then, reaching under the table, he pulled out a big
square box on rollers, and unlocked it with a key which he wore
on his watch chain. He took out a bottle and glass. Pouring a
full portion, he drained it at a gulp. Another and another glass
he emptied. The fiery liquid went to his head. A new look came
over his face.
"I've got you, haven't I," he demanded of the boy. "I've got
you, and this time I'm going to keep you!" He took another
drink.
"How did you come to suspect who I was, you, little fool?" he
demanded. "The day you came to see me in the Hospital and stood
there saying, 'Oh, yes,' to everything I said--who put you on my
track, eh? Somebody was smart--thought I would never notice a
small boy, eh? ho did it?"
"Nobuddy put me on anybuddy's track," said Asa. "I just happened
around every time."
"Of course!" said the Wolf. "Of course! You just happened a
round. Funny, as you Americans say. And the letter in your
pocket--it happens that I lost that letter through the idiocy of
one of my servants. You happened to find that also, of course.
Where did you find it?"
Asa was silent. He determined not to tell.
"Now I want you to tell me the whole thing. If you tell me
everything, I shall give you a great sum of money and let you go.
Won't that be fine?"
He paused again, looking keenly at Asa.
"Come, come!" said the Wolf. "I do not like to be kept waiting.
You saw what I did to the little man down the street. I stabbed
him. I am not afraid to tell you. I shall not stab you. Oh,
no! You are a nice boy; you are going to tell me all about
everything. That little man is dead now, quite dead. You would
not like to be like that, would you? Well, you are going to get
a lot of money, and go free, so you can have a nice time spending
it. Come," he said in a level, patient tone. "Speak!"
Asa's pale, terrified eyes were fixed on his tormentor, but still
he was silent. The Wolf took a twenty-dollar gold piece from his
pocket and laid it on the table before the boy.
"Twenty dollars in gold," he said. He took other pieces like it
from his pocket and piled them up. "Wealth!"' he almost
whispered. "Did you ever have as much money as that?"
Asa shook his head.
The Wolf leaned confidentially forward.
"Now tell me all about everything," he said coaxingly. He
studied Asa.
Asa studied him in return. Like a fascinated bird staring at a
snake, he looked at the cold, glittering eyes, the browned face,
the sear on the cheek. As he looked, the sear slowly turned
white. It gave the effect of its springing out into plain sight.
He looked carefully all over the Wolf. It was as though he
wanted to remember every little detail. The Wolf smiled.
"Curious about me, are you?" he said with a snarl, his smile
fading away. "Well, if you won't speak, then I will have to
talk. Now I want to know just who is tracking me, and just how
much they think they know about me. And you are going to tell me
everything."
Asa woke up. It felt to the tortured boy as though some cord in
his heart or soul suddenly snapped and left him free. Asa, who
had been always afraid to speak, was afraid no longer. Asa, who
found speech difficult, spoke rapidly and violently.
"No, I ain't," he shrilled. "I ain't goin' to tell a word about
nuthin'. And when I get out of here, I'm goin' to tell the first
policeman I see about that little thin man you stuck the knife
into. And I ain't afraid of you. Not a mite! I don't care what
you do to me, I ain't goin' to tell!"
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