"We have been out three months, and thou still dost hesitate; dost thou call thyself a man, and yet fear to attack one lone mortal?"
"He is the devil himself," grumbled his companion, "and he will have with him, not only White, but his shadow, the savage. The men shrink from arousing them, for it will mean death to some of us."
"Fool," replied the apothecary, "creep upon him in the night. A thrust of the knife, and 'twill all be over. Thou shalt have a capful of bright gold when thou doest the work."
"It is well to talk about 'a thrust of the knife and 'twill all be over,'" grunted Hawkins, with a scowl, "but the infernal Indian, who sleeps in the cabin with him, one eye open, would be on thee by that time. A blow from that cursed hatchet that he hauls around with him all the time, and it will all be over with a vengeance. Thou art so anxious for it, why not do the job thyself, and keep the capful of gold that thou talkest of so bravely."
The other shrugged his shoulders.
"It is out of my line," he muttered; "had it been my work, I had done it long ago."
"Why not a drop of some powerful drug in his wine?" said the carpenter. "It would do the work full as well, and much quieter. He would die of some lingering fever, and it would all be well, no one would be the wiser; but this other, that thou speakest of, is a dangerous business."
At that moment footsteps sounded around the other side of the deck, and White came in sight. They had just time to separate; Marsden to lean upon the rail and gaze thoughtfully off upon the water; his companion to throw himself flat upon the deck, his cap over his face as though asleep, when the Governor reached them. He stopped to speak to the apothecary, for he had ever a cheery word for all, and I turned around and slipped away quietly to the stern of the vessel.
Here was a pretty kettle of fish. Someone, I knew not who, was plotting to kill me. I had three to watch now—Dunraven, DeNortier, and my brother Richard; each had some motive for wishing me out of the way; none of them were too good to stoop to any means to accomplish their end. The first two would slay me because they feared that I stood between them and the woman they loved; Richard, because he had some fear that in some way, I know not how, I would wrest the estates and title out of his hands. I knew not upon whom to fasten the guilt, for it might be any one of the three.
It was important that I should learn who was at the bottom of the matter, and turning I made my way back to the cabin which I shared with the Indian. He had just awakened, and was yawning upon his pallet as I entered; closing the door, I came forward to where he lay. At the first sound of my footsteps, he had turned his head quickly, and he now squatted upon the floor opposite, his black eyes restlessly roving to and fro.