I was silent.
"As for Tom," he continued, "if he had drowned you I do not believe that I should have wept many tears. You are in my way, sir. But you have no reason to assume from my daughter's casual words that I was accomplice to his acts. Could you prove it before the captain or any court of law?"
I saw the twinkle in his eyes and knew that he was playing with me.
"No," said I shortly; "I could not prove it, even against him. I have no witnesses."
"And you could not even go into a court of law," he pursued, "for you are an outlaw, denied benefit of law or clergy."
"Yes," I flared in answer; "and you, sir, what think you might be your fate in New York if I denounced you to Governor Burnet for attempted murder! Would he make use of the opportunity—or no!"
The realization of this trump card I held had come to me in a flash of inspiration. Now it lay face up for all to see, and there could be no doubt it gave my enemies cause for uneasiness. Murray regarded me thoughtfully; a worried look replaced the cynical satisfaction with which de Veulle had watched my badgering; the bewilderment upon Marjory's face was deepened.
"I do not think I am so weakly situated as you had supposed," I mocked them. "Aye, you may denounce me to the captain for a Jacobite conspirator, and it may be he will see fit to believe you. You are three to my one. But when we reach New York, and I am brought before the officers of the Crown, I may have a different story to tell. Think you the governor would be loath to implicate a French officer and the man who is leading the fight against his struggle to control the fur-trade?"
Murray nodded his head slowly, and sank back in his seat.
"Sure, you are a lad after my own heart," he said. "That was well thought of. 'Tis checkmate—for this present."