So now, with an imprecation of genuine rage, he flung the weapon at Talbot, who, in his turn, was so surprised by the action that he did not get out of the way in time. It struck him fair in the chest and staggered him for a moment, whereupon Dubois ran off again into the interior of the wood.
But Talbot"s pause was only a matter of seconds. He did not trouble to pick up another stone. He felt with a species of mad joy that his enemy was unarmed--that he could throttle him with his hands, and wreak upon him that personal and physical vengeance which is dearer to outraged humanity than any wounds inflicted by other means.
Dubois reached a small glade among the trees before he comprehended that his ruthless adversary was still close at his heels. He stopped for the last time, resolved now to have done with this irritating business, once and for all. Talbot too halted, about ten yards from him. He felt that he had the Frenchman at his mercy, and there were a few things he wished to say to him before they closed in mortal combat.
"This time, Henri Dubois," he panted, "I am not drugged and strapped helplessly to a bed. You know why I am here. I have followed you to avenge the stigma you inflicted on my reputation and at the same time to recover the diamonds which you obtained by subterfuge and murder."
The Frenchman was quite collected in manner.
"I murdered no one," he answered. "I could not help the blundering of other people. If I am regretfully compelled to kill you to-day, it is your own fault. I am only acting in self-defence."
"Self-defence!" came the quick retort. "Such men as you are a pest. Like any wild beast you will strive to save your miserable life! But, thank Heaven, you must depend upon your claws. Lying and trickery will avail you no further!"
"How can we fight?" demanded the Frenchman calmly.
"Any way you like, you villain. As man to man if you are able. If not, as dog to dog, for I am going to try and kill you!"
"But you are probably armed, whereas I am defenceless? My revolver, as you saw, was not loaded."
"We are equal in that respect, if in no other," retorted Talbot.
An evil smile lit up the Frenchman"s pallid face. He pulled out his knife with a flourish and hissed--
"Then die yourself, you fool!"
He advanced upon Jack with a murderous look in his face. Talbot awaited him, and he, too, smiled.
"You are a liar and a coward to the end!" he cried. "But if you had twenty knives, Henri Dubois, I will kill you!"
At that instant a cold, clear voice rang out among the trees, close behind the two men.
"Halt!" it cried.
Both men involuntarily paused and turned their eyes to learn whence came this strange interruption. Brett quietly came a few paces nearer.
He held a revolver, pointed significantly at Dubois" breast.
"Drop that knife," he said, with an icy determination in tone and manner that sent a cold shiver through his hearer"s spine.
"Drop it, or, by G.o.d, I will shoot you this instant!"
Dubois felt that the game was up. He flung down the knife and tried even then to laugh.
"Of course," he sneered, "as I am cornered on all sides I give in."
Brett still advanced until he reached the spot where the knife lay. He picked it up, and at the same instant lowered the revolver. Then he observed, with the easy indifference of one who remarks upon the weather--
"Now you can fight, monsieur. My young friend here is determined to thrash you, and you richly deserve it. So I will not interfere. But just one word before you begin. Two can play at the game of bluff. This is your own pistol. It is, as you know, unloaded."
Dubois" cry of rage at the trick which had been played on him was smothered by his effort to close with Talbot, who immediately flung himself upon him with an impetuosity not to be denied.
Luckily for the Englishman he had clutched Dubois before the latter could attempt any of the expedients of the savate. Nevertheless the Frenchman sought to defend himself with the frenzy of desperation.
The fight, while it lasted, was fast and furious.
The two men rolled over and over each other on the ground--one striving to choke the life out of his opponent, the other seeking to rend with teeth and nails.
This combat of catamounts could not last long.
From the writhing convulsive bodies, locked together in a deadly struggle, suddenly there came a sharp snap. The Frenchman"s right arm was broken near the wrist.
Then Talbot proceeded to wreak his vengeance on him. Unquestionably he would have strangled the man had not Brett interfered, for with his left hand he clutched Dubois" throat, whilst with the right he endeavoured to demolish his features. But the barrister, a.s.sisted by the Italian pilot--whose after-life was cheered by his ability to relate the details of this Homeric fight--pulled the young man from off his insensible foe.
Talbot regained his feet. Panting with exertion, he glared down at the prostrate form, but Brett, being practical-minded, knelt by the Frenchman"s side, tore open his shirt, and unfastened the precious belt.
"At last!" he murmured.
Peering into one of the pockets, which by the way of its bulging he thought would contain the "Imperial diamond," he looked up at Talbot with the words--
"Now, Jack, we are even with him."
It was the first time he had addressed Talbot by his familiar and Christian name. The very sound brought back the other man to a conscious state of his surroundings, and in the same instant a great weakness came over him, for the terrible exertions of the past few minutes had utterly exhausted him.
"I cannot even thank you, for I am done up. But I owe it all to you, old man. If it had not been for you we should never have found him."
Brett"s grave face wrinkled in a kindly smile.
"I think," he said, "we are even on that score. If you had not followed this rascal he might have escaped us at the finish, and my pride would never have recovered from the shock. However, go and sit down for a minute or two and you will soon pull yourself together again. I wish to goodness we had some brandy. A drop would do you good, and our prostrate friend here would be none the worse for a reviver."
The Italian pilot caught the word "brandy." Being a sailor he was equal to all emergencies. He produced a small flask with a magnificent air.
"Behold!" he declared. "It is the best. It is contraband!"
Brett forced his companion to swallow some of the liquor; then he gently raised Dubois" head and managed to pour a few drops into his mouth.
The Frenchman regained consciousness. Awakening with a start to the realities of existence, he endeavoured to rise, but sank back with a groan, for he had striven to support himself on his broken arm.
"Be good enough to remain quite still, M. Dubois," said Brett soothingly. "You have reached the end of your rope, and we do not even need to tie you."
With the aid of some handkerchiefs and a couple of saplings cut by the Italian he managed roughly to bind the fractured limb. Then he a.s.sisted Dubois to his feet.
"Come," he said, "we are regretfully compelled to bring you back to town, but we will endeavour to make the journey as comfortable as possible for you. In any event, the horses will certainly not travel so fast."
In the roadway they found the carriages where they had left them, whilst three wondering _cocchieri_ were exchanging opinions as to the mad behaviour of the foreigners.
Brett and the Frenchman entered one vehicle, Talbot and the Italian pilot the other.
"But, gentlemen," moaned the disconsolate cabman who had headed the procession from Palermo, "who will pay me for my dead horse?"