Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER XVII Daybreak stole in, gray upon the walls. Sunrise came, and mellowed the cold light to a warmer tint. The house-flies had long been buzzing. A noise in the hall, just outside the door, had proclaimed a change of sentries. And still the young man lay, sleepless but unheeding, upon the bed. Charles, bearing a pitcher of hot water, tapped on the door, and, getting no response, entered the room on tip-toe. There across the bed sprawled Tom, face downward, as he had flung himself sometime during the night, worn out by futile rage and tramping to and fro. Having poured the steaming water into the washbasin, Charles stepped across the floor and touched his master on the shoulder. Yourwash-water is ready, sir, said he deferentially. Shall I … g-g-g-g-g-g? His words died into inarticulate gutturals, for like a hungry tiger Tom was up and off the bed and had him by the throat. You black devil, cried the youth in a low, groaning voice terrible to hear, grinding his teeth in excess of fury, who was that woman with you last night ? Tell me! You needn’t struggle, damn you! Tell me? before I kill you! There was an appalling livid pallor on his face. His eyes were two red balls of fire. His thick brown hair, tousled by the night’s unrest, bristled like a lion’s mane.And all the while, muttering imprecations, he kneaded his powerful fingers into the dark sinewy throat in front of him, squeezing until the swollen tongue lolled out. He had the negro on his knees, helpless. He shook him so that his head swayed weakly from side to side and his eyes bulged. Tell me! Tom muttered again. Speak before I kill you! But Charles, what with the surprise of the assault, what with the strangling grip on his throat, was beyond all utterance; and the other, despit…