And then he remembered the sudden growth of beard, and decided that it was useless to pursue that last thin thread of suspicion in his mind. For several seconds he said nothing at all, and the Clockwork man seemed to take advantage of the pause in order to wind himself up to a new pitch of coherency.My informant's head drooped low and she murmured, "It was I."I began to unclothe his wound. "May I ask one thing?""I am but human."