CHAPTER XL
COIL OF THE PIGTAIL
The inner room was in darkness and the fume-laden air almost
unbreathable. A dull and regular moaning sound proceeded from the
corner where the bed was situated, but of the contents of the place
and of its other occupant or occupants Kerry had no more than a hazy
idea. His imagination supplied those details which he had failed to
observe. Mrs. Monte Irvin, in a dying condition, lay upon the bed, and
someone or some thing crouched on the divan behind Kerry as he lay
stretched upon the matting-covered floor. His wrists, tied behind him,
gave him great pain; and since his ankles were also fastened and the
end of the rope drawn taut and attached to that binding his wrists, he
was rendered absolutely helpless. For one of his fiery temperament
this physical impotence was maddening, and because his own
handkerchief had been tied tightly around his head so as to secure
between his teeth a wooden stopper of considerable size which
possessed an unpleasant chemical taste and smell, even speech was
denied him.
How long he had lain thus he had no means of judging accurately; but
hours--long, maddening hours--seemed to have passed since, with the
muzzle of Sin Sin Wa's Mauser pressed coldly to his ear, he had
submitted willy-nilly to the adroit manipulations of Mrs.
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