er. There
was a moment when they all three plunged forward together, and then the
pony threw itself upon its side, by some wild effort extricating its
feet, and Caius, prone upon the quivering head, rolled himself and
dragged it forward. Then he felt strong hands lifting him and the horse
together.

What seemed strangest to Caius, when he could look about and think, was
that he had now four companions--the boy, O'Shea, and two other men,
coated and muffled--and that the four were all talking together eagerly
in a language of which he did not understand a word.

He shook the wet sand from his clothes; his legs and arms were wet. The
pony stood in an entrance to a gap in the sand-hills, quivering and
gasping, but safe, albeit with one leg hurt. The cart had sunk down till
its flat bottom lay on the top of the quicksand, and there appeared to
float, for it sunk no further. A white cloud that had winged its way up
from the south-west now drifted over the moon, and became black except
at its edges. The world grew much darker, and it seemed colder, if that
were possible.

It soon occurred to Caius that the two men now added to their party had
either met O'Shea by appointment, or had been lying in wait for the
cart, knowing that the quicksand was also waiting to engulf it. It
appeared to him that their motives must be evil, and he was not slow to
suspect O'Shea of being in some plot with them. He had, of course, money
upon him, enough certainly to attract the cupidity of men who could
seldom handle money, and the medical stores were also convertible into
money. It struck him now how rash he had been to come upon this lonely
drive without any assurance of O'Shea's respectability.

These thoughts came to him because he almost immediately perceived that
he was the subject of conversation. It seemed odd to stand so near them
and not understand a word they said. He heard enough now to know the
language they were speaking was the patois that, in those parts, is the
descendant of the Jersey French. These men, then, were Acadians--the boy
also, for he gabbled freely to them. Either they had sinister designs on
him, or he was an obstruction to some purpose that they wished to
accomplish. This was evident now from their tones and gestures. They
were talking most vehemently about him, especially the boy and O'Shea,
and it was evident that these two disagreed, or at least could not for
some time agree, as to what was to be his fate.