Not so Merton. When the valet left us, the captain said: “We are utterly in the hands of that man.”
“Yes,” I returned thoughtfully.
“If he knew,” said Merton, “he might—”
“No. That he did not want to know what these papers are was an expression of his own doubt concerning the extent to which he might trust himself. I think we must trust him.”
“Yes,” returned the captain. “Whether or not we have been wise to use him, I rather doubted, but now I do not. The limitations of the moral code of a man like Alphonse are strange enough. It is hard to guess beforehand what he will do and what he will not. However, we are in for it. You have a revolver?”
“No.”
“I will lend you mine.”
I said I should be glad to borrow it, but I may say that I took care, before we set out, to see that the barrels were not loaded. I might use it to threaten, but was resolute not to fire on any one, even if not to do so involved failure of our purpose. I, too, had my moral limitations.
We lost a day, but on the following night there was such a storm as satisfied us to the full.