But before the man could speak again, Kilgariff added:—
“As a still further stimulus to truth-telling on your part, let me make a few suggestions. You are completely in my power. If I choose, I can have you taken hence to General Early and introduce you to him as a man who accepted a commission in the Confederate Army and then deserted to the other side and deceived the authorities there into giving him a commission to fight the cause he had solemnly sworn to support. You know what would happen in such a case.”
“Yes, I know. There’d be a drumhead court-martial, and I’d be hanged at daybreak. But hear me, Kilgariff. I’m a gambler, as you know, not in one way, but in all ways. And I know how to be a good loser. I’ve drawn a very bad hand this time, but I’ve called the game; and if I’m hanged for it, I shall not whine about my luck. Whenever I die, and however I die, I’ll die game. So you can’t intimidate me. But before I die, there are certain things I want to tell you—for the sake of the others. For although I have no moral principles and don’t profess any, there are some things I want to tell you about—”
“Go on. Tell me about my brother.”
“That wasn’t what I wanted to talk about first. Besides, you know most of the story.”
“Never mind that. I want to hear it all from your lips. Much of it I never understood. Tell it all and quickly.”
“Well, your brother’s a fool, you know.”
“Yes, I know. Otherwise—never mind that. Tell me the whole story. How far was my brother a sharer in your guilt? How far did he consent to my wrecking? Why did he join you for my destruction, after all I had done for him?”
“It’s very hard to say. Opinions differ, and standards of morality—”
“Damn opinions and standards!—especially yours. I want the facts—all of them, to the last detail. Go on, and don’t waste time.”