Duval's expression of astonishment was an excellent counterfeit. His virile, dark, thin-lipped face showed only blank surprise, but this did not deceive Norton.
"You're a pretty pair of scoundrels!" he said grimly. "Your game's up, Duval, so no need to play innocent. Grigg, you're known for Blacknose. I think you'll both go to Louisville on that boat, but you'll go bound."
He saw Grigg's eyes widen and his jaw fall in astonishment, and needed not the step behind him to know that Kathleen had come up. Duval, however, maintained his cold poise.
"You are making a grievous mistake, Captain Norton," he returned, softly. "You must either be out of your senses or——"
"So?" chuckled Norton easily. "You remember how you and Blacknose there paused on your way to Henderson a few days ago, and held a conversation just before you parted company? There were witnesses to that conversation, my friend."
Grigg went livid, and his bushy grizzled beard quivered as he stared at Norton. Duval, however, showed no sign of emotion beyond a tightening of his lips; his dark eyes glittered ominously, and the cruel curve of his nostrils deepened. In that moment Norton knew that he had lost his play, and would get nothing out of this man. Grigg opened his mouth to speak, but Duval shut him up sharply.
"I said, sir, that you were mistaken," returned the lawyer coldly. "The tenor of that conversation must have been misunderstood by you. Madam Grigg, your servant."
He bowed slightly to the girl. With an inward groan, Norton lowered his rifle. If he brought the matter to an issue, he knew well that he would fail; neither Duval nor Grigg had mentioned Blacknose by name, and the conversation was incriminating only by inference. And inference counted for nothing in the Kentucky courts.
"Duval, I'm going to get you." And Norton suppressed the rage within him, his voice as cold and level as that of the lawyer. "You're the man behind this Blacknose gang, and Grigg there is Blacknose. I know that much, and I'm going to prove it some day."
"You will have far to travel before that day, sir," returned Duval with a thinly veiled sneer.