The detectives from Kansas City could not possibly
reach the farm until far too late to save her.
She saw Dink return from the summer kitchen with the
long knife. She recalled the day she had bought that knife in
town, and the various uses to which she had put it. That very
morning she had sliced some bacon with it. How distinctly
such little things recurred to her at this frightful moment. And
now the hideous creature standing beside her was going to use
it to cut her throat.
She saw Crumb take the knife and feel of the blade,
running his thumb along it. She saw him stoop, his eyes
turned down upon hers. He grasped her chin and forced it
upward and back, the better to expose her throat.
Oh, why could she not faint? Why must she suffer all these
hideous preliminaries? Why could she not even close her eyes?
Crumb raised the knife and held the blade close above her
bared neck. A shudder ran through her, and then the door
crashed open and a man sprang into the room. It was Billy
Byrne. Through the window he had seen what was passing in
the interior.
His hand fell upon Crumb's collar and jerked him backward
from his prey. Dink seized the shotgun and turned it
upon the intruder; but he was too close.
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