human
God!... he exclaimed.
gpt
Your father!
human
My father,
gpt
You were alone with _that_? Alone in the dark?
human
It was awful!
gpt
He is dead.
human
Dead.
gpt
Who--who killed him?
human
God!
gpt
Pull yourself together, he said, harshly.
human
Don't go to pieces. What has happened? What does this mean?
gpt
I'm not going to pieces. I'm calm--but I'm frightened.
human
There is no wound, he said, lifting his face.
gpt
How did he die?
human
Because, she said, quietly,
gpt
Such a father, she went on with unnatural calm.
human
His blood was my blood--but I hated him. His touch, the air he breathed, was defilement. I could not have borne it another day.... He _had_ to die.
gpt
Hildegarde!
human
You think I'm heartless. You think I ought to cry.... Oh, I could sing! I'm free at last. Free of him, free of his defilement. If I could only get his blood out of my veins....
gpt
What are you saying? What has been going on here? Tell me.
human
He was a spy and a traitor and a murderer.... I discovered it. I knew it--and I couldn't denounce him. He was my father, don't you see? My father!... You can't betray your father to the police. I hated him for it, and I loved my country--but I couldn't denounce him.
gpt
Your father a spy? A German agent?
human
Yes.
gpt
You poor child!
human
When you came with questions--I couldn't answer. You called me a traitor ... and I dared not tell you. He was my father and--and I couldn't have lived to have people point to me and call me the daughter of a traitor. Could you have borne that?
gpt
No, he said.
human
No.
gpt
He knew I had discovered what he was.... He locked me in. I've been watched day and night. I've been a prisoner.
human
Cantor?...
gpt
Was a guard. I couldn't explain _that_.... He wanted me to marry him--to go with him without marriage--and father tried to force me.... He was trying to force me to-day.... And he died. Suddenly she clutched his arm.
human
Oh, she cried,
gpt
What did he say? Was it true?
human
It was true. It changed him. He forgot me.... He told father he must strike at once--to-night.... It's going to be to-night. Somehow, by some means, he's going to do some awful thing. He rushed out.... Then Philip's wife came with a note ... and when father read it he ... died. It killed him....
gpt
To-night. Cantor is going to do something to-night. What? What else do you know?
human
Let me think. It was all so terrible.... He has an aeroplane. He is going to blow up factories and channels. In an hour. He said he could do it all in an hour.
gpt
Where is Cantor? Where did he go?
human
In his car. I don't know where he went--it was that way --she pointed--
gpt
That way? Toward the lake?
human
Yes.
gpt
He has Matthews's 'plane, he said.
human
He'll use that--to drop explosives.... He's been gone hours. He can't be caught and stopped. Once he reaches that 'plane, there's no way to stop him. Even if the city was warned, he could do as he wished.... There's no way to stop him.
gpt
But you must stop him.... If this thing is done it will be my fault--mine!... Because I didn't tell.... But now I've told.... Oh, Potter, you must do something.... I'm not a traitor.... I love my country. Don't let me be blamed for this. There's a way to prevent it--some way.... You must find it.
human
If we knew where the 'plane was--or the explosive stored. He stopped suddenly, and a surge of joy welled up to his eyes.
gpt
I know, he said.
human
I know where he must start.... That island, Hildegarde, where we fell.... That's what the island was for. They made explosive, stored explosive.... There is where he will start.
gpt
What time is it?
human
Nearly six,
gpt
He won't start for hours--until midnight. He'll be safest then.... Can't you get there in time?
human
I don't think a motor-boat could reach that island--the ice in the lake.
gpt
He'll have that 'plane hidden on the lake shore. He'll fly across and take on his explosives.
human
You have an aeroplane, too,