"I'll not take the money till I give you the deed," said Lygon. "It will do to-morrow. It's doing me a good turn. I'll get away and start again somewhere. I've done no good up here. Thank you, sir—thank you." Before they realised it, the tent-curtain rose and fell, and he was gone into the night.
The trouble was still deep in the girl's eyes as she kissed her father, and he, with an overdone cheerfulness, wished her a good night.
The man of iron had been changed into a man of straw once at least in his lifetime.
Lygon found Dupont at the Forks.
"Eh ben, it is all right—yes?" Dupont asked eagerly as Lygon joined him.
"Yes, it is all right," answered Lygon.
With an exulting laugh and an obscene oath, Dupont pushed out the canoe, and they got away into the moonlight. No word was spoken for some distance, but Dupont kept giving grunts of satisfaction.
"You got the ten t'ousan' each—in cash or cheque, eh? The cheque or the money-hein?"
"I've got nothing," answered Lygon. Dupont dropped his paddle with a curse.
"You got not'ing! You said eet was all right," he growled.