"But--but not till I've broken a few heads, by God!"
The match fell from his burnt fingers. Whirling toward the door, he
rained powerful kicks upon it. He would get out, he must get out, at all
hazards!
Suddenly the woman began to scream, with harsh and piercing cries that
seemed to rip the very atmosphere.
[Illustration: Aiming at the base of the skull she struck.]
At the third scream, or the fourth, the key was turned and the door
jerked open.
In its aperture, three men stood--the two who had been so long trailing
Gabriel, and a policeman, burly, red-jowled, big-paunched.
Gabriel stared at them. His mouth opened, then closed again without a
word. As well for a trapped animal to make explanations to the Indian
hunter, as for him to tell these men the truth. The truth? _They_ knew
the truth; and they were there to crucify him. He read it in their
cruel, eager eyes.
The woman had stopped screaming now, and was weeping with abandon,
pouring forth a tale of insults and abuse and robbery, with hysterical
sobs.
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