CHAPTER XXII FROM TIGER’S CLAW TO LION’S MOUTH

Every nation has its traitors¹, and there was an English renegade soldier at Quebec. At Iberville’s suggestion he was made one of the guards of the prison. It was he that, pretending to let Gering win his confidence, at last aided him to escape through the narrow corner-door of his cell.

Gering got free of the citadel—miraculously, as he thought; and, striking² off from the road, began to make his way by a roundabout to the St. Charles River, where at some lonely spot he might find a boat. No alarm had been given, and as time passed his chances seemed growing, when suddenly there sprang from the grass round him armed men, who closed in, and at the points of swords and rapiers seized him. Scarcely a word was spoken by his captors, and he did not know who they were, until, after a long detour³, he was brought inside a manor-house, and there, in the light of flaring⁴ candles, faced Perrot and Iberville. It was Perrot who had seized him.

“Monsieur,” said Perrot, saluting⁵, “be sure this is a closer prison than that on the heights.” This said, he wheeled and left the room.

The two gentlemen were left alone. Gering folded his arms and stood defiant⁶.

“Monsieur,” said Iberville, in a low voice, “we are fortunate to meet so at last.”

“I do not understand you,” was the reply.

“Then let me speak of that which was unfortunate. Once you called me a fool and a liar⁸. We fought and were interrupted. We met again, with the same ending, and I was wounded by the man Bucklaw. Before the wound was healed I had to leave for Quebec. Years passed, you know well how. We met in the Spaniards’ country, where you killed my servant; and again at Fort⁷ Rupert, you remember. At the fort you surrendered before we had a chance to fight. Again, we were on the hunt for treasure. You got it; and almost in your own harbour I found you, and fought you and a greater ship with you, and ran you down. As your ship sank you sprang from it to my own ship—a splendid leap. Then you were my guest, and we could not fight; all—all unfortunate.”

He paused. Gering was cool; he saw Iberville’s purpose, and he was ready to respond to it.

“And then?” asked Gering. “Your charge is long—is it finished?”

A hard light came into Iberville’s eyes.

“And then, monsieur, you did me the honour to come to my own country. We did not meet in the fighting, and you killed my brother.” Iberville crossed himself. “Then”—his voice was hard and bitter—“you were captured; no longer a prisoner of war, but one who had broken his parole. You were thrown into prison, were tried and condemned⁹ to death. There remained two things: that you should be left to hang, or an escape—that we should meet here and now.”

“You chose the better way, monsieur.”

“I treat you with consideration, I hope, monsieur.” Gering waved his hand in acknowledgment, and said: “What weapons do you choose?”

Iberville quietly laid on the table a number of swords. “If I should survive this duel¹⁰, monsieur,” questioned Gering, “shall I be free?”

“Monsieur, escape will be unnecessary.”

“Before we engage, let me say that I regret your brother’s death.”

“Monsieur, I hope to deepen¹¹ that regret,” answered Iberville quietly. Then they took up their swords.

1 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

2 striking   

adj.显著的，惹人注目的，容貌出众的

参考例句：

• There is a striking difference between Jane and Mary.简和玛丽之间有显著的差异。
• What is immediately striking is how resourceful the children are.最令人注目的是孩子们的机智聪明。

3 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

4 flaring   

a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的

参考例句：

• A vulgar flaring paper adorned the walls. 墙壁上装饰着廉价的花纸。
• Goebbels was flaring up at me. 戈塔尔当时已对我面呈愠色。

5 saluting   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• 'Thank you kindly, sir,' replied Long John, again saluting. “万分感谢，先生。”高个子约翰说着又行了个礼。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• He approached the young woman and, without saluting, began at once to converse with her. 他走近那年青女郎，马上就和她攀谈起来了，连招呼都不打。 来自辞典例句

6 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

7 fort   

n.要塞，堡垒，碉堡

参考例句：

• The fort can not be defended against an air attack.这座要塞遭到空袭时无法防御。
• No one can get into the fort without a pass.没有通行证，任何人不得进入要塞。

8 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

9 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

10 duel   

n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争

参考例句：

• The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。
• Duroy was forced to challenge his disparager to duel.杜洛瓦不得不向诋毁他的人提出决斗。

11 deepen   

vt./vi.加深，(使)变深，加重，加浓

参考例句：

• We'll have to deepen the well if we want more water.如果我们想要更多的水，就得把井加深。
• Her wrinkles deepen with age.她的皱纹随年龄增长而变深。