Oh, no!
"'I must be free!' I cried, furiously.
"'Vive la liberte!" yells that ruffian Mafile. 'Mort aux bourgeois who
send us to Cayenne! They shall soon know that we are free.'
"The sky, the sea, the whole horizon, seemed to turn red, blood red all
round the boat. My temples were beating so loud that I wondered they
did not hear. How is it that they did not? How is it they did not
understand?
"I heard Simon ask, 'Have we not pulled far enough out now?'
"'Yes. Far enough,' I said. I was sorry for him; it was the other I
hated. He hauled in his oar with a loud sigh, and as he was raising his
hand to wipe his forehead with the air of a man who has done his work,
I pulled the trigger of my revolver and shot him like this off the knee,
right through the heart.
"He tumbled down, with his head hanging over the side of the boat. I did
not give him a second glance. The other cried out piercingly. Only one
shriek of horror. Then all was still.
"He slipped off the thwart on to his knees and raised his clasped hands
before his face in an attitude of supplication.
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