5. That they were men of great strength but little alertness; the
stray glimpses I had had of them, revealing a breadth of back that
was truly formidable, if it had not been joined to a heaviness of
motion that proclaimed a certain stolidity of mind that was eminently
in our favor.
How best to use these facts in the building up of a matured plan of
action, was, then, the problem. By noon of a certain day I believed
it to have been solved, and reluctant as I was to leave the spot of my
espionage even for the hour or two necessary to a visit to
headquarters, I found myself compelled to do so. Packing up in a
small basket I had for the purpose, the little articles I had been
engaged during the last few days in making, I gave way to a final fit
of coughing so hollow and sepulchral in its tone, that it awoke a
curse from the next room deep as the growl of a wild beast, and still
continuing, finally brought Luttra to the door with that look of
compassion on her face that always called up a flush to my cheek
whether I wished it or no.
"Ah, Monsieur, I am afraid your cough is very bad to-day. O I see; you
have been getting ready to go out--"
"Come back here," broke in a heavy voice from the room she had left.
"What do you mean by running off to palaver with that old rascal
every time he opens his ----- battery of a cough?"
A smile that went through me like the cut of a knife, flashed for a
moment on her face.
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