Labar disengaged himself. “There is nothing at all to worry about, my dear. I shall take good care of myself now, I assure you. There will be no more danger than if I was engaged on a rat hunt.”

“Trapped rats sometimes bite.”

“I propose to do all the biting this time,” he laughed. “Be a good child, and I’ll promise to keep well out of any trouble. If they start shooting, I’ll hide behind Malone. He’s big enough.”

Blowing her a kiss he retired to his own room. His mask of nonchalance dropped from him as soon as he was away from her sight, to be replaced by determined thought. It was not likely that what remained to be done would be so simple as he would have her believe. Spite of everything, he had no notion within some miles of the house where Larry and his gang were located⁠—and, if he found the place, it was nothing more than an assumption that they would still be there. He had first to find them and, supposing that to be successful, he had somehow to recruit a sufficient force to deal with them. That would take time.