of a table with the Professor gagged and bound upon the chair before them. So seated, they watched their prey.
Melba slowly filled an enormous pipe from an enormous pouch, keeping his round, blue eyes fixed and ready for any movement upon the Professor's part.
Jimmy lit a black cigarette with some affectation, blew a cloud of thin, blue smoke, and addressed the prisoner—
"Before we come to business, Brassington," he said, "how will you behave if we ungag you?'
An appreciative and pacifist lowing proceeded from the gag.
"That 's all very well," broke in Melba in his falsetto, "last time you said that you broke your word!"
"Wmmmmmm!" replied the Professor, shaking his head in emphatic negation.
"Yes, but you did," continued Melba shrilly. "You tried to kick Jimmy, and you tried to kick me, too, after I dumped you."
Jimmy waved his hand at Melba, commanding silence.
"Look here, sir," he said, "we had to do it. We don't like it, and in a way we're sorry; but we had to."
