He pushed his chair back a little, and, sitting forward, prepared himself at any suspicious movement to spring to his feet. He had Texworthy on his right, and the professor on his left, and McAlbane was on the other side of the table.
It was Texworthy, he told himself, from whom he would have most to fear, and he regarded watchfully the lithe and sinuous figure of the big-game hunter. But Texworthy's attitude was one of the greatest abandon. He was lolling back in his chair, he blinked his eyes as if he were sleepy, and his whole pose was that of a man who had enjoyed a good dinner, and now only wanted peace and quiet in order to digest it.
The conversation continued for a few minutes, and then the professor, getting up, moved over to the sideboard and busied himself with a kettle that h
