“It behooves you to do something more than soak up whisky,” said the gambler.  “You must find out what took your wife to North’s rooms, and you must make her keep quiet no matter what happens.  If you go about it right it ought to be easy, for they had some sort of a row and he’s mixed up with the Herbert girl; you got that to go on.  Now, the question is, is she mad enough to see him go to the penitentiary or hang without opening her mouth to save him?  Come, you should know something about her by this time; I would, if I had been married to her as long as you have.”

Suddenly he released Langham and fell back a step.  The lawyer staggered to his feet, adjusting his collar and cravat which Gilmore’s grasp on his throat had disarranged.  He glanced about him with a vague notion of obtaining some weapon that would put him on an equality with his more powerful antagonist, but nothing offered, and he took a step toward the door.

“Don’t be a fool, Marsh,” said the gambler coldly.  “I’m going to change my tactics with you.  I’m not going to wear myself out keeping your nose pointed in the right direction; you must do something for yourself, you drunken fool!”

Langham took another step toward the door, but his eyes—­the starting bloodshot eyes of a hunted animal—­still searched the room for some weapon.  Except for the heavy iron poker by the grate, there was nothing that would serve his purpose, and he must pass the gambler to reach that.  Still fumbling with his collar he paused irresolutely, midway of the room.  Pride and self-respect would have taken him from the place but hate and fear kept him there.

Gilmore threw himself down in a chair before the fire and lit a cigar.  In spite of himself Langham watched him, fascinated.  There was such conscious power and mastery in everything the gambler did, that he felt the various purposes that were influencing him collapse with miserable futility.  What was the use of struggling?

“You can do as you blame please in this matter, Marsh,” said the gambler at length.  “I haven’t meant to offend you or insult you, but if you want to see it that way—­all right, it suits me.  You needn’t look about you, for you won’t find any sledges here; you ought to know that.”

“What do you mean—­” asked Langham in a whisper.

“Draw up a chair and sit down, Marsh, and we’ll thrash this thing out if it takes all night.  Here, have a cigar!” for Langham had drawn forward a chair.  With trembling fingers he took the cigar the gambler handed him.  “Now light up,” said Gilmore.  He watched Langham strike a match, watched his shaking hands as he brought its flame to the cigar’s end.  “That’s better,” he said as the first puff of smoke left Langham’s colorless lips.  “So you think you want to know what I mean, eh?  Well, I’m going to take you into my confidence, Marsh, and just remember you can’t possibly reach the poker without having me on top of you before you get to it!  You were pretty sober for you the afternoon of the murder, not more than half shot, we’ll say, but later on when you hunted me up at the McBride house, you were as drunk as you will ever be, and slobbering all sorts of foolishness!”