Above all I seemed to see the fat red face of Mr. Justice Owen, with
the ridiculous little three-cornered black cap above it. He had been
very cut up about sentencing me to death, had poor old Owen, and I
could almost hear the broken tones in which he had faltered out the
words:

"... taken from the place where you now stand to the place whence you
came--hanged by the neck until your body be dead--and may God have
mercy on your soul."

At this cheerful point in my reminiscences I was suddenly interrupted
by a sharp knock at the door.




CHAPTER V

AN OFFER WITHOUT AN ALTERNATIVE


With a big effort I pulled myself together. "Come in," I called out.

The door opened, and the girl, Sonia, entered the room. She was
carrying a tray, which she set down on the top of the chest of
drawers.

"I don't know the least how to thank you for all this," I said.

She turned round and looked at me curiously from under her dark