The case is no worse than it was half an hour ago.
I shall not betray the secret.'
He tossed off the brandy, and with some effort regained his
self-control.
'I have done my errand badly,' he wailed. 'I don't know what I have
said that has led you to so accurate a statement of the real
situation, but I have been a blundering fool. God forgive me, when so
much depended on my making no mistake.'
'Don't let that trouble you,' I replied; 'nothing you said gave me the
slightest clue.'
'You called me a liar,' he continued, 'and that is a hard word from
one man to another, but I would not lie for myself, and when I do it
for one I revere and respect, my only regret is that I have done it
without avail.'
'My dear sir,' I assured him, 'the fault is not with yourself at all.
You were simply attempting the impossible. Stripped and bare, your
proposal amounts to this. I am to betake myself to the United States,
and there commit a crime, or a series of crimes, in bribing sworn
officials to turn traitor to their duty and permit a convict to
escape.'
'You put it very harshly, sir. You must admit that, especially in new
countries, there is lawlessness within the law as well as outside of
it.
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