“What does this mean?” said Toussaint. “General Christophe, do you know of any public treasure being concealed in any part of the island?”
“None,” said Christophe, “public or private.”
“Nor do I. You hear, gentlemen.”
“You forget, General Toussaint, what we heard on the occasion of our capture.”
“You forget your own words to us,” said Lieutenant Martin—“that we had seen and heard too much for you to let us go.”
“I remember my words perfectly; and that they referred to my choice of a post in the mornes, and a retreat for my family—affairs long since made public enough. What else do you suppose you saw and heard? If I spoke of depositing my treasures in the mornes, I was doubtless speaking of my household. Did you understand me to mean gold and silver? What was it that you suppose you saw and heard?”
“We saw new-made graves, and the tools that dug them, after having heard shots.”
“You are welcome to dig upon the Plateaux, and to take whatever treasure you may find. You will find only the bones of the brave who fell in attacking and defending the post.”
“And of those who, being there, can tell no tales. You forget that we heard their death-shots before we saw their graves. The time is come for you to tell the secret that you buried with them.”
Christophe rarely laughed; but he laughed now.