usCoombs looked around him wildly, in search of some way of escape. That was an impulse which Duff did not wish to check.
“All right,” he said, “think it over. I don’t need to crowd you. Take your own time. I’ll come in and see you again, this afternoon. There’s no hurry, see? The old girl’s good for a few years yet—unless you make up your mind to bump her off. That’s up to you.” He patted Coombs on the knee and rose cheerfully. “Think it all over. The more you think about it, the more you’ll realize why you’ve got to take us in on it. You need us as much as we need you. I’ll see you later.” He put on his hat. “I’ll drop in, again, this afternoon.”
He glanced back as he opened the door. Coombs sat, crowded into his corner of the sofa, watching him go, so paralyzed with the encounter that
