"Now," the Colonel inquired calmly, "how are you going to tie my
hands? Can you hold the revolver in one hand and tie with the
other?"
"Hang me!" exclaimed Maurice, finding himself brought to a halt.
"My son," said the Colonel, "you are clever. In fact, you are
one of those fellows who grow to be great. You never miss an
opportunity, and more often than not you invent opportunities,
which is better still. The truth is, you have proceeded exactly
on the lines I thought you would; and thereby you have saved me
the trouble of lying or having it out with Madame. I am a victim,
not an accomplice; I was forced at the point of a revolver; I
had nothing to say. If I had really been careless you would have
accomplished the feat just the same. For it was easily
accomplished you will admit. 'Tis true I knew you were acting
because I expected you to act. All this preamble puzzles you."
Certainly Maurice's countenance expressed nothing less than
perplexity. He stepped back a few paces.
"You have," continued the Colonel, "perhaps three-quarters of an
hour. You will be able to get out of here. You will have to
depend on your resources to cross the frontier.
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