"I
shall insist on the payment of the wager, St Pierre."
For a moment St. Pierre was clearly troubled. Then his lips
tightened, and he smiled grimly over the table at David.
"I am sorry, M'sieu David. I like you. You are a fighting man and
no coward, and I should like to travel shoulder to shoulder with
you in many things. And such a thing might be, for you do not
understand. I tell you it would have been many times better for
you had I whipped you out there, and it had been you--and not me--
to pay the wager!"
"It is Roger Audemard I am interested in, St. Pierre. Why do you
hesitate?"
"I? Hesitate? I am not hesitating, m'sieu. I am giving you a
chance." He leaned forward, his great arms bent on the table. "And
you insist, M'sieu David?"
"Yes, I insist."
Slowly the fingers of St. Pierre's hands closed into knotted
fists, and he said in a low voice, "Then I will pay, m'sieu. _I_
AM ROGER AUDEMARD!"
XXIII
The astounding statement of the man who sat opposite him held
David speechless. He had guessed at some mysterious relationship
between St. Pierre and the criminal he was after, but not this,
and Roger Audemard, with his hands unclenching and a slow humor
beginning to play about his mouth, waited coolly for him to
recover from his amazement.
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