"Non!" he said. "I not tell you dat, for why, zee surprise it veel be zee more pleasant!"
"Pleasant!" cried Helen, wrath uppermost in her heart once more. "Pleasant! I——" She checked herself, then as something occurred to her she asked another question.
"This man whom you promise me? He pays you to bring me to him?"
"Oui! He pays a great price!"
"Why?"
"I not know! How can I tell what ees in zee heart of heem? But it ees in my mind dat he burns with love, dat——"
Helen rose suddenly from her seat. "I will tell you something," she said in a voice that made the callous half-breed shiver. "When you bring me to this man I will kill him because that other man has died!"
"I not care what you do wid heem!" answered her captor with a brutal laugh. "You marrie heem, you keel heem, it ees all zee same to me, I get zee price, an' I do not love dat mans, no."
"Tell me who is he—his name, and I will pay you double the price he promises."
The half-breed smiled cunningly. "Where is your double zee price? Zee price dat man pay I haf seen. Eet ees real! Eet ees a good price! Non! mees; a promise what ees dat? A red fox in zee trap ees more dan a silvaire fox in zee wood. Dis man half zee goods, an' you—what haf you?"