Pierre eagerly.
"You know the odds are great," temporized Carrigan.
"That I concede, m'sieu."
"But a fight without a wager would be like a pipe without tobacco,
St. Pierre."
"You speak truly, m'sieu."
David came nearer and laid a hand on the other's arm. "St. Pierre,
I hope you--and your Jeanne--will understand what I am about to
offer. It is this. If Bateese whips me, I will disappear into the
forests, and no word shall ever pass my lips of what has passed
since that hour behind the rock--and this. No whisper of it will
ever reach the Law. I will forget the attempted murder and the
suspicious mumblings of your Broken Man. You will be safe. Your
Jeanne will be safe--if Bateese whips me."
He paused, and waited. St. Pierre made no answer, but amazement
came into his face, and after that a slow and burning fire in his
eyes which told how deeply and vitally Carrigan's words had struck
into his soul.
"And if I should happen to win," continued David, turning a bit
carelessly toward the window, "why, I should expect as large a
payment from you. If I win, your fulfillment of the wager will be
to tell me in every detail why your wife tried to kill me behind
the rock, and you will also tell me all that you know about the
man I am after, Black Roger Audemard.
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