Pierre cocked his dark head on one side and winked.
“Madoc sick and Madoc well are different.”
“Oh! you wretch. Would you sell a sick moose and cheat the buyer?”
“Would I lose such a pile of money for foolishness? I guess not.”
“But suppose, after you parted with him, he got well?”
Again the woodlander grinned and winked.
“Could you drive the king?”
“No.”
“Well, that’s all right. I buy him back, what you call trade. One do that many times, good enough. If——”
Pierre was silent for some moments, during which Adrian had steadily paddled backward to the island, keeping time with the other boat, and without thinking what he was doing. But when he did remember, he turned to Pierre and asked: