And then, realizing that it was his own comparative
cowardice that made this seem strange, the foreman gritted his teeth.
Shame softens the heart sometimes, but more often it hardens the
spirit. It hardened the conqueror against his victim, now, and made it
possible for him to look down on Red Jim with a cruel satisfaction.
"Well?" he said, and the volume of his voice added to this
determination.
"Well?" said Perris, as calm as ever. "Waiting for me to whine?"
Hervey blinked.
"Who licked you?" he asked, forced to change his thoughts. "Who licked
you--before I got at you?"
Perris smiled, and there was something about the smile that made
Hervey flush to the roots of his grey hair.
"Alcatraz had the first innings," said Perris. "He cleaned me up. And
that, Hervey, was tolerably lucky for you."
"Was it?" sneered the victor. "You'd of done me up quick, maybe, if
Alcatraz hadn't wore you out?"
He waited hungrily for a reply that might give him some basis on which
to act, for after all, it was not going to be easy to fire pointblank
into those steady, steady eyes. And more than all, he hungered to see
some wavering of courage, some blenching from the thing to come.
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