“No indeed, my dear fellow,” briskly responded Nicolas. “It will be quite a different affair from that little one of yours. We mean to kill him, however, but we will try our chances among the three of us. We don’t care to take the whole risk ourselves, and I think, considering how quiet we have kept about that little affair of yours in the park of the Château Bernard that you ought to help us out. So we will play a game of cards and the loser is to finish up Lieutenant Verney or be finished up himself. That is quite fair. Don’t you agree to that, Pierre?”
Pierre nodded and grinned. Toni sat looking at them stupidly by the light of the oil lamp. He took in instantly what they meant—they intended that he should kill Paul Verney or else be killed himself. Nicolas took out of his pocket a greasy pack of cards and said:
“What shall it be—écarté?”
“As you please,” responded Pierre.
Toni would have given his soul, almost, to have rushed out of the room, but he was Toni still as boy and man. He had been cowed and enslaved by certain strange fears which many persons exercised over him, and these scoundrels in particular. He thought of himself as murdered by these wretches, who, he knew, would do it with as little compunction as they would wring the neck of a chicken. He thought of Denise, of Paul Verney, and he was overwhelmed with sorrow for them and pity for himself, for he understood that he must die.
The cards were dealt and Toni took his up. He was in a horrible dream, but he retained enough of his faculties to know how the game was going. Nicolas and Pierre were quite cheerful and they squabbled merrily over the game and took all the tricks. When they had finished, Nicolas slapped Toni on the back and said jovially:
“Well, my man, you have got the job.”
Toni made no reply. He was too frightened to speak, and then Nicolas, suddenly growing perfectly serious, said:
“You know we begin our practice marches in about a fortnight. Now, on our first practice march you are to be ill and drop out of the ranks—see?—when the lieutenant is riding by the side of the troop where he can see you, and you must select a place where there is a thicket in which a man’s body can be hid from the observation of the people passing by. Now, when the lieutenant comes back to see what is the matter with you, it will be quite easy—he will be completely off his guard—and then—you had better do it with a knife—a knife makes no noise, you know, and if you don’t know how to use a knife on Lieutenant Verney—well, we’ll use it on you—that’s all—and on Lieutenant Verney later.”
Toni’s arms dropped by his side and he uttered a low groan. What folly ever had thrown him with these men—what madness was his not to have come out and told the truth about Count Delorme! And now his life must pay the penalty for it, and just as it was growing so sweet to him. He staggered to his feet and groped his way to the door, Pierre and Nicolas making no effort to stop him. They saw that they had fully impressed him with what they meant to do.