Pierre's wife. And she did not wait
for him to answer.
"This--this Roger Audemard--if you catch him--what will you do
with him?" she asked.
"He will be hanged," said David. "He is a murderer."
"And one who tries to kill--who almost succeeds--what is the
penalty for that?" She leaned toward him, waiting. Her hands were
clasped tightly in her lap, the spots were brighter in her cheeks.
"From ten to twenty years," he acknowledged. "But, of course,
there may be circumstances--"
"If so, you do not know them," she interrupted him. "You say Roger
Audemard is a murderer. You know I tried to kill you. Then why is
it you would be my friend and Roger Audemard's enemy? Why,
m'sieu?"
Carrigan shrugged his shoulders hopelessly. "I shouldn't," he
confessed. "I guess you are proving I was wrong in what I said. I
ought to arrest you and take you back to the Landing as soon as I
can. But, you see, it strikes me there is a big personal element
in this. I was the man almost killed. There was a mistake,--must
have been, for as soon as you put me out of business you began
nursing me back to life again. And--"
"But that doesn't change it," insisted St.
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