The Second Murray Leinster Megapack by Murray Leinster Page A

seemed to figure largely.
    Ribiera looked up at him with the eyes of a terrified snake. There was a little stirring at the door.
    “Your friends,” said Bell softly, “had better not come close.”
    Ribiera gasped an order. The stirrings stopped. Paula came slowly into the room quite alone. She smiled queerly at Bell.
    “I believed that you would come,” she said quietly. “And yet I do not know that we can escape.”
    “We’re going to try,” said Bell grimly. To Ribiera he added curtly, “You’d better order the path cleared to the door, and have one of your cars brought around.”
    Ribiera croaked a repetition of the command.
    “Now stand up—slowly,” said Bell evenly. “Very slowly. I don’t want to die, Ribiera, so I don’t want to kill you. But I haven’t much hope of escape, so I shan’t hesitate very long about doing it. And I’ve got these guns’ hammers trembling at full cock. If I get a bullet through my head, they’ll go off just the same and kill you.”
    Ribiera got up. Slowly. His face was a pasty gray.
    “Your major-domo,” Bell told him matter-of-factly, “will go before us and open every door on both sides of the way to the street. Paula”—he used her given name without thought, or without realizing it—“Paula will go and look into each door. If she as much as looks frightened, I fire, and try to fight the rest of the way clear. Understand? I’m going to get down to a boat I have ready in the harbor if I have to kill you and every living soul in the house!”
    There was no boat in the harbor, naturally. But the major-domo moved hesitantly across the room, looking at his master for orders. For Ribiera to die meant death or madness to his slaves. The major-domo’s face was ghastly with fear. He moved onward, and Bell heard the sound of doors being thrust wide. Once he gave a command in the staccato fashion of a terrified man. Bell nodded grimly.
    “Now we’ll move. Slowly, Ribiera! Always slowly.… Ah! That’s better! Paula, you go on before and look into each room. I shall be sorry if any of your servants follow after you, Ribiera.… Through the doorway. Yes! All clear, Paula? I’m balancing the hammers very carefully, Ribiera. Very delicate work. It is fortunate for you that my nerves are rather steady. But really, I don’t much care.… Still all clear before us, Paula? With the servants nerve-racked as they are, I believe we’ll make it through, even if I do kill Ribiera. There’ll be no particular point in killing us then. It won’t help them. Don’t stumble, please, Ribiera.… Go carefully, and very slowly.…”
    Ribiera’s face was a gray mask of terror when they reached the door. A long, low car with two men on the chauffeur’s seat was waiting.
    “Only one man up front, Ribiera,” said Bell dryly. “No ostentation, please. Now, I hope your servants haven’t summoned the police, because they might want to stop me from marching you out there with a gun in the small of your back. And that would be deplorable, Ribiera. Quite deplorable.”
    With a glance, he ordered Paula into the tonneau. He followed her, driving Ribiera before him. There seemed to be none about but the stricken, terrified servant who had opened the door for their exit.
    “My friend,” Bell told the major-domo grimly, “I’ll give you a bit of comfort. I’m not going to try to take the Senhor Ribiera away with me. Once I’m on board the yacht that waits for me, I’ll release him so he can keep you poor devils sane until my Government has found a way to beat this devilish poison of his. Then I’ll come back and kill him. Now you can tell the chauffeur to drive us to the Biera Mar.”
    He settled back in his seat. There were beads of perspiration on his forehead, but he could not wipe them off. He held the two revolvers against Ribiera’s flabby body.
    The car turned the corner, and he added dryly:
    “Your servants, Ribiera, will warn your more prominent slaves of my intention