Reply immediately what
charge and evidence. Souspennier naturalised Englishman."
Mr. Mace sprang to his feet with an oath. He threw aside the
curtain which shielded the room from the larger apartment.
"Horser, come here, you damned fool!"
Horser, with a stream of magnificent invectives, obeyed the summons.
His host pointed to the message.
"Read that!"
Mr. Horser read and his face grew even more repulsive. A dull
purple flush suffused his cheeks, his eyes were bloodshot, and the
veins on his forehead stood out like cords. He leaned for several
moments against the table and steadily cursed Mr. Sabin, the
government at Washington, and something under his breath which he
did not dare to name openly.
"Oh, shut up!" his host said at last. "How the devil are we going
to get out of this?"
Mr. Horser left the room and returned with a tumbler full of brandy
and a very little water.
"Take a drink yourself," he said. "It'll steady you."
"Oh, I'm steady enough," Mr. Mace replied impatiently. "I want to
know how you're going to get us out of this. What was the charge,
anyhow?"
"Passing forged bills," Horser answered. "Parsons fixed it up."
Mr. Mace turned a shade paler.
"Where the devil's the sense in a charge like that?" he answered
fiercely. "The man's a millionaire.
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