"There is nothing to be grateful for," replied the outlaw, with an odd expression and smile.
[CHAPTER XVIII.]
THE PRISONER.
That same day, about nine o'clock in the evening, the outlaw was seated face to face with Captain Pierre Durand at a table covered with dishes, plates, and empty bottles, which testified to the appetite of the two men, and to the rude attack they had made upon everything in order to satisfy it.
The two men were now smoking excellent cigars, while sipping, like true amateurs, some mocha, served in real Japanese cups. Close at hand, in addition, were bottles containing every conceivable kind of liquors and spirits.
They had reached that precise period in the repast so prized by gourmets, when, the mind elevated and the brain excited by succulent food and generous libations, one feels a kind of happy state of being that is simply charming.
For one whole quarter of an hour neither of the two men had spoken or cared to speak.
It was the outlaw who first broke the charm.