He crawled, hidden by the long grass, towards the hut. Forty feet away from him Jodot and William were talking. In perfect security, loudly enough for him to distinguish their voices, but not loudly enough for him to hear what they were saying. What was he to do? He had come without any definite plan; he meant to act as the circumstances demanded. Having no weapon, he decided that to start a hand to hand struggle of which when all was said and done, he might get the worst, was too dangerous. Besides, if he did get the best of it, would he be able by threats to make such a tough opponent as Jodot speak, to confess himself beaten and hand over the information which he had obtained with such difficulty? He continued to crawl forward therefore, with infinite precaution and very slowly, in the hope of catching a sentence that would enlighten him. So slowly did he move that he could not himself hear the rustling of his body through the grass. He advanced six feet, then ten, and so reached a point from which he could hear distinctly what they were saying. “For goodness sake, don’t make yourself ill, thinking about it,” growled Jodot. “When we last went down to the flood-gates, the surface of the lake had risen to the fifth mark which is level with the ceiling of the grotto; and since they couldn’t get away, their hash is settled. It’s as certain as that two and two make four.” “All the same you ought to have posted yourself nearer the grotto and kept watch on them from there,” grumbled William. “And why not you, my lad?” “Me! With my arm still stiff! It’s just about as much as I can do to fire my rifle.” “And then you’re afraid of the beggar,” sneered Jodot. “And so are you,” retorted William. “I don’t say I’m not. I preferred to use my rifle and the dodge of flooding the grotto, since we’d got old Talencay’s papers.” “I wish you wouldn’t talk about him,” snapped William. He spoke in a shaky voice and Jodot chuckled. “Cowardly dog!” he sneered again. “Just you bear in mind that when I came back from hospital my mother said: ‘All right. You know where this devilish fellow, this poisonous Limézy has hidden Aurelie, and you declare that if you watch him he’ll lead you to the treasure. Very good; my son will lend you a helping hand. But no crimes—no blood.’ What?” “And there wasn’t a drop of blood,” said Jodot in jesting accents. “Oh, you know what I mean and what happened to the poor beggar. When there’s a dead man, there’s a crime. It’s just the same in the case of Limézy and Aurelie. Are you going to say there hasn’t been a crime?” “And what about it? Were we to let this business drop? Do you think that a beggar like Limézy would have made way for you for love of your beautiful eyes? You know the cursed blighter too well. He broke your arm. He would have ended by breaking your neck. It was him, or us; and we had to choose.” “But Aurelie?”