Under his body he concealed his clenched hands.

Within himself he fought against the insane desire that was raging in his blood, the desire to leap on Mercer and kill him.

If Cardigan had reported his condition to Kedsty, it would have been different.

He would have accepted the report as a matter of honorable necessity on Cardigan's part.

But Mercer--a toad blown up by his own wind, a consummate fiend who would sell his best friend, a fool, an ass-- For a space he held himself rigid as a stone, his face turned away from Mercer.