But the warden said no.
O'Leary moaned and stared balefully at the hovering
helicopters.
The warden was the warden! He was placed in that
position through the meticulously careful operations of
the Civil Service machinery, maintained in that position
year after year through the penetrating annual inquiries
of the Reclassification Board. It was subversive to think
that the Board could have made a mistake!
But O'Leary was absolutely sure that the warden was a
scared, ineffectual jerk.
The interphone was ringing again.
The warden picked up the handpiece and held it limply
at arm's length, his eyes fixed glassily on the wall. It was
Sauer from the Green Sleeves again; O'Leary could hear
his maddened bray.
"I warned you, warden!" O'Leary could see the big
con's contorted face in miniature, in the viewscreen of the
interphone. The grin was broad and jolly; the snake's eyes
poisonously cold. "I'm going to give you five minutes,
warden, you hear? Five minutes! And if there isn't a medic
in here in five minutes to take care of my boy Flock
your guards have had it! I'm going to chop off a hand and
throw it out the window, you hear me? And five minutes
later another hand! And five minutes later"
The warden groaned weakly. "I've called for the prison
medic, Sauer. Honestly I have! I'm sure he's coming as
rapidly as he"
"Five minutes!" And the ferociously grinning face dis-
appeared.
O'Leary leaned forward. "Warden. Warden, let me take
a squad in there!"
The warden stared at him for a blank moment. "Squad?
No, O'Leary. What's the use of a squad? It's a medic I
have to get in there. I have a responsibility to those
guards, and if I don't get a medic"
A cold, calm voice from the door: "I am here, warden!"
O'Leary and the warden both jumped up. The medic
nodded slightly. "You may sit down."
"Oh, doctor! Thank heaven you're here." The warden
was falling all over himself, getting a chair for his guest,
flustering about.
O'Leary said sharply, "Wait a minute, warden. You
can't let the doctor go in alone!"
"He isn't alone!" The doctor's interne came from be-
hind him, scowling belligerently at O'Leary. He was
youngish, his beard pale and silky, a long way from his
first practice. "I'm with him!"
O'Leary put a strain on his patience. "They'll eat you
up in there, Doc! Those are the worst cons in the prison.
