You've been altogether too handy with it. Now," he continued, "let us
consider our situation. You see at a glance that we have gained a great
deal as a result of the parley; the way we have just been treated here
shows plainly enough that we shall, at least, have a fair trial, and we
couldn't have counted on that before. You can never make people listen to
reason against their inclination unless you hold certain advantages, and
our advantage was that we clearly had it in our power to continue our
flight. My only anxiety now is in regard to the means of holding them to
the agreement--for agreement it certainly was--and of impressing them not
only with a conviction of our innocence but with a sense of our reserve
power, and the more mysterious I can make that power seem to them, the
better. That is why I welcomed even the incident of Jack's smoking. We
shall surely be arraigned before a court of some kind, and I imagine that
we shall not have long to wait. What I wish particularly is that all of
you shall desist from every thought of resistance, and follow strictly
such instructions as I may have occasion to give you."
He had hardly ceased speaking when a number of official-looking persons
entered the room where we were.
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