"Bring him here!" she cried.
"Do nothing of the sort!" shouted the gentleman in possession of the
cab.
But Fanny obeyed her mistress; and the men obeyed Fanny. Iris turned
indignantly to the merciless stranger. "I ask you to do an act of
Christian kindness," she said. "How can you, how dare you, hesitate?"
"Drive on!" cried the stranger.
"Drive on, at your peril," Iris added, on her side.
The cabman sat, silent and stolid, on the box, waiting for events.
Slowly the men came in view, bearing Lord Harry, still insensible. The
handkerchiefs on his throat were saturated with blood. At that sight,
the cowardly instincts of the stranger completely mastered him. "Let me
out!" he clamoured; "let me out!"
Finding the cab left at her disposal, Iris actually thanked him! He
looked at her with an evil eye. "I have my suspicions, I can tell you,"
he muttered. "If this comes to a trial in a court of law, I'm not going
to be mixed up with it. Innocent people have been hanged before now,
when appearances were against them."
He walked off; and, by way of completing the revelation of his own
meanness, forgot to pay his fare.
On the point of starting the horse to pursue him, the cabman was
effectually stopped.
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