“Before God,” burst out Gaspard, “I will do nothing unless you believe me when I say that I came by it rightly, that there is no stain of blood on it, that what happened there on the island was an accident, and that I am no murderer!”
Sagesse, who knew man thoroughly, and who ever since the first morning of their acquaintance had been studying him minutely, rose to his feet and slapped his right hand down on the table palm uppermost.
“I believe you, there, the words are said and let us say no more on the matter—how far others would believe you, it is not for me to say, but there, let the matter end and come to business.”
He sat down again, and Gaspard opening the pouch at his waist put the coins on the table in a heap.
Sagesse counted them. “Dieu,” said he, holding one in his hand and examining it. “Fancy trying to change this lot at a banker’s or bureau de change, they would be enough to raise a blister on the reputation of a saint. I can get rid of them, though; with difficulty it is true, but still I can get rid of them. But I don’t take risks without a chance of good profits. I will give you forty dollars for the lot.”
“Less than two dollars apiece?”
“Slightly.”
“Mordieu,” said Gaspard. “I would as soon throw them overboard.”
Sagesse put both his elbows on the table and laughed. Then the haggling began. Gaspard, the son of a tradesman, had something of the business man in his nature. It was a strange picture, and not without its romantic side. The two southerners seated opposite to each other at the table of the dingy deck-house, the swinging lamp overhead casting its light on the chart, the pieces of gold, and the strenuous faces of the barterers.
One might imagine that Sagesse, having the game, seemingly, in his hands, would have forced his terms on the other; but that would be without counting on the character of the Captain and the laws which governed his life. “Never appeal to social laws unless in the last extremity. Never use force against a man stronger than yourself. Take the pyx, but leave the priest the chalice (in other words—do not strip a man so bare that he will turn upon you in desperation)”—these were three of the laws governing this wise man’s actions. He was an artist in scoundrelism, for he knew the value of restraint.