"If I were a man, I should like to see you hold me down so easily.
Let me up, or I'll call for help!" "If you speak above your breath, I'll choke you!" said Pierre, with savage emphasis.

"I am not done with you yet! Is the money in the safe ?" "That's none of your business! Let me up, I say! Here, Marmion! Marmion!" "_Carrajo!_" muttered the Ranchero, again seizing his prisoner's throat in his powerful fingers.

"Do you want me to kill you ?" Frank, nothing daunted by this rough treatment, struggled manfully, and tried hard to make a defiant reply, but could not utter a sound.

Pierre tightened his grasp, until it seemed as if he had deliberately resolved to send him out of the world altogether, and then released his hold, and waited until Frank was able to speak before he said: "You see that I am in earnest! Now, answer me! Is the gold in the safe ?" "I am in earnest, too!" replied Frank, as bravely as ever.

"I shall not tell you where it is.