han his father had, and we all know what he
was--that's so, bagosh!" remarked Grandois viciously.

"Well, what sort of a man was he?" asked Carnac cooly, with a warning
glance at Fabian, who was resentful. Indeed, Fabian would have struck
the man if his brother had not been present, and then been torn to
pieces himself.

"What sort--don't you know the kind of things he done? If you don't,
I do, and there's lots of others know, and don't you forget it, mon
vieux."

"That's no answer, Monsieur Grandois--none at all. It tells nothing,"
remarked Carnac cheerily.

"You got left out of his will, m'sieu', you talk as if he was all
right--that's blither."

"My father had a conscience. He gave me chance to become a partner in
the business, and I wouldn't, and he threw me over--what else was there
to do? I could have owned the business to-day, if I'd played the game as
he thought it ought to be played. I didn't, and he left me out--that's
all."

"Makin' your own way, ain't you?" said the English labourer. "That's hit
you where you're tender, Grandois. What you got to say to that?"

The intense black eyes of the habitant sparkled wickedly, his jaws set
with passion, and his sturdy frame seemed to fasten to the ground. His
gnarled hands now shot out fiercely.

"What I got to say! Only this: John Grier played the devil's part. He
turned me and my family out into the streets in winter-time, and the law
upheld him, old beast that he was--sacre diable!"

"Beast-devil! Grandois, those are hard words about a man in his son's
presence, and they're not true. You think you can say such things
because I'm standing for Parliament. Beast, devil, eh? You've got a free
tongue, Grandois; you forgot to say that my father paid the doctor's
bill for your whole family when they were taken down with smallpox; and
he kept them for weeks afterwards. You forgot to recall that when he
turned you out for being six months behind with your rent and making no
effort to pay up! Who was the devil and beast then, Grandois? Who spat
upon his own wife and children then? You haven't a good memory.... Come,
I think your account with my father is squared; and I want you to vote
to put my father's son in Parliament, and to put out Barode Barouche,
who's been there too long. Come, come, Grandois, isn't it a bargain?
Your tongue's sharp, but your heart's in the right place--is it a
bargain?"

He held out his hand with applause from the crowd, but Grandois w