"
"Are you a beast, St. Pierre--a murderer as well as--"
"Stop! Do not tell me again what you saw through the window, for
it has nothing to do with this. I am not a beast, but a man. Had I
been a beast, I should have killed you the first day I saw you in
this cabin. I am not threatening to kill you, and yet it may be
necessary if you insist that I pay the wager. You understand,
m'sieu. To refuse to pay a wager is a greater crime among my
people than the killing of a man, if there is a good reason for
the killing. I am helpless. I must pay, if you insist. Before I
pay it is fair that I give you warning."
"You mean?"
"I mean nothing, as yet. I can not say what it will be necessary
for me to do, after you have heard what I know about Roger
Audemard. I am quite settled on a plan just now, m'sieu, but the
plan might change at any moment. I am only warning you that it is
a great hazard, and that you are playing with a fire of which you
know nothing, because it has not burned you yet."
Carrigan seated himself slowly in a chair opposite St. Pierre,
with the table between them.
"You are wasting time in attempting to frighten me," he said.
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