Chauvenet stood looking from Shirley to the man
and back again. He was by no means a coward, and he did not in the least
relish the thought of owing his safety to a woman. But the confidence
with which Shirley addressed the man, and her apparent familiarity with
the peculiarities of the mountaineers impressed him. He spoke to her
rapidly in French.
"Assure the man that I never heard of him before in my life--that the
idea of seeking him never occurred to me."
The rifle--a repeater of the newest type--went to the man's shoulder in a
flash and the blue barrel pointed at Chauvenet's head.
"None o' that! I reckon the American language air good enough for these
'ere negotiations."
Chauvenet shrugged his shoulders; but he gazed into the muzzle of the
rifle unflinchingly.
"The gentleman was merely explaining that you are mistaken; that he does
not know you and never heard of you before, and that he has not been
looking for you in the mountains or anywhere else."
As Shirley spoke these words very slowly and distinctly she questioned
for the first time Chauvenet's position.
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