"He told you that?"
"Why, to be sure, we had a parley in the meadow. I covered him with a pistol and asked him to tell me why I shouldn't shoot him. His argument was that one of his own men would promptly shoot Jasper. You see, they are holding him against us as a kind of shield."
Nance's face lost some of its radiance.
"But De Rothan dare not do this."
"Unfortunately he does dare, in fact, he is obliged to dare. It is the one chance left him of forcing his game through. We are on the edge of a crisis. The next month may decide whether we are to be invaded or not. De Rothan is standing out for a fighting chance."
She looked very gravely into Jeremy's eyes.
"Do you think he would be brute enough to murder Jasper?"
"My dear, I do."
"Then if we threaten or inform against him, Jasper will be sacrificed?"
"Exactly. That's what makes me feel like a caged tiger."