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Page 81
"No, no! You've had enough," I said, and drew the bottle out of his
reach. "Randolph, you know I'm your friend, don't you? Look at me! Now
what's the matter? What door are you talking about?"
"The door to a wing of the prison where Edison is."
"You said he was in Aaron Burr's cell."
"He's been moved to another part of the building. That woman arranged
it."
"Why?"
He looked at me in a silence of shame, then he forced himself to speak.
"So I could carry out my orders"
"Orders? Not--not German orders?"
He nodded stolidly.
"I'm under her orders--it's the same thing. I can't help it. I can't
stand against her."
"Then she _is_ the countess?"
He bowed his head slowly.
"Yes. I meant to play fair. I would have played fair, but--the
Germans put this woman on our trail when we left Chicago--they
mistrusted something and--" with a gesture of despair, "she found me
in Pittsburg--she--she's got me. I don't care for anything in the world
but that woman."
"Randolph!"
"It's true. I don't want to live--without her. You needn't cock up your
eyes like that. I'd go back to her now--yes, by God, I'd do this thing
now, if I could."
He had worked himself into a frenzy of rage and pain, and I sat still
until he grew calm again.
"What thing? What is it she wants you to do?"
"Get rid of you to begin with," he snapped out. "It's easy enough. We go
to the prison--this key lets us in. I leave you in the cell with Edison
and--you saw that package in my room? It's a bomb. I explode it under the
cell and--there you are!"
"You promised to do this?"
"Yes! I'm to get five thousand dollars."
"But you didn't do it, you stopped in time," I said soothingly. "You've
told me the truth now and--we'll see what we can do about it."
He scowled at me.
"You're crazy. We can't do anything about it. The Germans are in control
of Richmond. They're watching this hotel."
Ryerson glanced at his watch.
"Half-past three. I have four hours to live."
"What!"
"They'll come for me at seven o'clock when they find I haven't carried
out my orders, and I'll be taken to the prison yard and--shot or--hanged.
It's the best thing that can happen to me, but--I'm sorry for you."
"See here, Ryerson," I broke in. "If you're such a rotten coward and liar
and sneak as you say you are, what are you doing here? Why didn't you go
ahead with your bomb business?"
He sat rocking back and forth on the side of the bed, with his head bent
forward, his eyes closed and his lips moving in a sort of thick mumbling.
"I've tried to, but--it's my sister. God! She won't leave me alone. She
said she'd be praying for me and--all night I've seen her face. I've seen
her when we were kids together, playing around in the old home--with
Mother there and--oh, Christ!"
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