; I declare upon honor that I recognize the
man's voice. When he offered me a boat, he spoke a kind of almost
unintelligible jargon, a mixture of English and Spanish words; but he
did not think of changing his intonation and his accent."

Affecting an assurance which he was far from really feeling, Crochard,
surnamed Bagnolet, shrugged his shoulders carelessly, and said,--

"Do I know any English? Do I know any Spanish?"

"No, very likely not; but like all Frenchmen who live in this colony,
and like all the marines, you no doubt know a certain number of words of
these two languages."

To the great surprise of the doctor and of Daniel, the prisoner did not
deny it; it looked as if he felt that he was on dangerous ground.

"Never mind!" he exclaimed in the most arrogant manner. "It is anyhow
pretty hard to accuse an honest man of a crime, because his voice
resembles the voice of a rascal."

The magistrate gently shook his head. He said,--

"Do you pretend being an honest man?"

"What! I pretend? Let them send for my employers."

"That is not necessary. I know your antecedents, from the first petty
theft that procured you four months' imprisonment, to the aggravated
robbery for which you were sent to the penitentiary, when you were in
the army."

Profound stupor lengthened all of Crochard's features; but he was
not the man to give up a game in which his head was at stake, without
fighting for it.

"Well, there you are mistaken," he said very coolly. "I have been
condemned to ten years, that is true, when I was a soldier; but it was
for having struck an officer who had punished me unjustly."

"You lie. A former soldier of your regiment, who is now in garrison here
in Saigon, will prove it."

For the first time the accused seemed to be really troubled. He saw all
of a sudden his past rising before him, which until now he had thought
unknown or forgotten; and he knew full well the weight which antecedents
like his would have in the scales of justice. So he changed his tactics;
and, assuming an abject humility, he said,--

"One may have committed a fault, and still be incapable of murdering a
man."

"That is not your case."

"Oh! how can you say such a thing?--I who would not harm a fly. Unlucky
gun! Must I needs have such a mishap?"

The magistrate had for some time been looking at the accused with an air
of the most profound disgust. He interrupted him rudely now, and said,--

"Look here, my man! Spare