was simple; but, racked
as he was by anxiety, weakened by incipient disease, and paralysed by
chronic fear, the difficulties were too great to be overcome. To be a
thorough villain one must possess, first of all, good health; secondly,
untiring energy; and thirdly, a certain enthusiasm for wrong-doing for
its own sake. Criminals of the first standard have always loved crime.
Victor Durnovo was not like that. He only made use of crime, and had no
desire to cultivate it for its own sake. To be forcibly dragged back,
therefore, into the paths of virtue was in some ways a great relief. The
presence of Guy Oscard, also, was in itself a comfort. Durnovo felt that
no responsibility attached itself to him; he had entire faith in Oscard,
and had only to obey.

Durnovo was not a person who suffered from too delicate a
susceptibility. The shame of his present position did not affect him
deeply. Indeed, he was one of those men who have no sense of shame
before certain persons; and Guy Oscard was one of those. The position
was not in itself one to be proud of, but the half-breed accepted it
with wonderful equanimity, and presently he began to assist in the
embarkation.

It was nearly dark when the little coast steamer secured by Maurice
Gordon for the service turned her prow northward and steamed away.

"The truth is," Durnovo took an early opportunity of saying to Oscard,
"that my nerve is no longer up to this work. I should not care to
undertake this business alone, despite my reputation on the coast. It
is a wonderful thing how closely the nerves are allied to the state of
one's health."

"Wonderful!" acquiesced Guy Oscard, with a lack of irony which only made
the irony keener.

"I've been too long in this d----d country," exclaimed Durnovo, "that's
the fact. I'm not the man I was."

Guy Oscard smoked for some moments in silence; then he took his pipe
from his lips.

"The only pity is," he said judicially, "that you ever undertook to look
for the Simiacine if you were going to funk it when the first difficulty
arose."

Without further comment he walked away, and entered into conversation
with the captain of the steamer.

"All right," muttered Durnovo between his teeth--"all right, my
sarcastic grand gentleman. I'll be even with you yet."

The strange part of it was that Guy Oscard never attempted to degrade
Durnovo from his post of joint commander. This puzzled the half-breed
sorely. It may have been that Oscard kne