"'Or a devil—eh, Urbain Gautier?' said Captain Benson; 'but no more of this, or——'
"'Don't threaten me, mon petit capitaine—my nice little man,' interrupted the giant, with a horrible grimace, 'or——' and pausing, he laid his hand significantly on his knife.
"Urbain now became surly, insolent, and ferocious; but knowing his singular strength, which failed less than ours, and knowing the secret, the loathsome and terrible means by which he maintained it—aware also that he had plenty of ammunition—we dissembled alike our fears, our suspicions, and our abhorrence of him.
"After we had toiled on for two hours in silence, he suddenly stopped us all by an oath.
"'Nombril de Belzebub!' he exclaimed to Captain Benson, 'what is the use of looking for food or game in these infernal wastes, into which your stupidity has led us? Let us cast lots, and find out who shall be shot for the food of the rest!'
"'Silence, wretch,' said Captain Benson.
"'To that it will come at last,' said Urbain, grinning.
"'Perhaps it has come to it already,' said Bob Jenner, unwisely.
"'Ah, sacré! You think I murdered that boy, do you? And you think so, too?' he added to me.
"'I have not said so,' I replied, evasively.