He looked at me, astonished. “If you can do that, m’sieu, you can do anything.”
“In the meanwhile,” I said, dryly, “I want another look at Tric-Trac.”
“I could show you Tric-Trac in an hour—but to go to him direct would excite his suspicion. Besides, there are two gendarmes in Paradise to conduct the conscripts to Lorient; there are also several gardes-champêtre. But I can get you there, in the open moorland, too, under everybody’s noses! Shall I?” he said, with an eager ferocity that startled me.
“You are not to injure him, no matter what he does or says,” I said, sharply. “I want to watch him, not to frighten him away. I want to see what he and Buckhurst are doing. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Then strike palms!”
We struck vigorously.
“Now I am ready to start,” I said, pleasantly.
“And now I am ready to tell you something,” he said, with the fierce light burning behind his blue eyes. “If you were already in the police I would not help you—no, not even to trap this filou who has mocked me! If you again enter the police I will desert you!”
He licked his dry lips.