“Oh, what a rascally thing to do!”
“In return for aiding Jean Bevoir, Benoit Vascal is also to receive favors,” went on James Morris. “Do you remember the papers that were lost—those relating to Mr. Maurice Hamilton’s right to certain tracts of land along the St. Lawrence?”
“Of course.”
“Well, Vascal will have duplicates made and have the rights transferred to himself, the others being witnesses to this instrument. Thus, they will cheat the father of the twins out of his property.”
“But what will they do when you turn up, and when Mr. Hamilton appears?”
“That is the most dastardly part of the whole business. They are either going to poison us in secret or else capture us and turn us over to some Indians, who, for a consideration, will make way with us in such a fashion that the authorities will be completely baffled.”
“How awful, father! How can a man like Jean Bevoir be so bloodthirsty?”
“It is his old hatred of me grown more bitter day by day. He hated me when first we established rival trading posts, and now he cannot bear to think of the English winning this war against the French and Indians and see me getting what is justly my due.”
“And what do you intend to do about it?”
“I do not know yet—I must think the matter over, and perhaps I will consult with Captain Ecuyer and Colonel Bouquet. They certainly ought to know about such dastardly plots as these.”