Then again there was stillness. They could hear the clock tick.
The woman looked at the prostrate figure, the strong, straight limbs, the
strong back bound in subjection, the wide-eyed face that reminded her of
a calf tied in a sack in a cart, only its head stretched dumbly
backwards. And she triumphed.
The bound-up body began to struggle again. She watched fascinated the
muscles working, the shoulders, the hips, the large, clean thighs. Even
now he might break the ropes. She was afraid. But the lively young
soldier sat on the shoulders of the bound man, and after a few perilous
moments, there was stillness again.
'Now,' said the judicious sergeant to the bound man, 'if we untie you,
will you promise to go off and make no more trouble.'
'You'll not untie him in here,' cried the woman. 'I wouldn't trust him as
far as I could blow him.'
There was silence.
'We might carry him outside, and undo him there,' said the soldier. 'Then
we could get the policeman, if he made any bother.'
'Yes,' said the sergeant. 'We could do that.' Then again, in an altered,
almost severe tone, to the prisoner. 'If we undo you outside, will you
take your coat and go without creating any more disturbance?'
But the prisoner would not answer, he only lay with wide, dark, bright,
eyes, like a bound animal. There was a space of perplexed silence.
'Well, then, do as you say,' said the woman irritably.
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