That gentleman, when he became certain that he should so greatly profit
by the fact that an ex-brigand had pointed him out as an ex-captain of
brigands, had determined to do what he could for the fellow who had
unconsciously rendered him the service. So he employed a lawyer to attend
to Banker's case, and as it was not difficult to prove that the accused
had not even touched Cheditafa, but had only threatened to maltreat him,
and that the fight which caused his arrest was really begun by Mok, it
was not thought necessary to inflict a very heavy punishment. In fact, it
was suggested in the court that it was Mok who should be put on trial.
So Banker went for a short term to prison, where he worked hard and
earned his living, and when he came out he thought it well to leave
Paris, and he never found out the nature of the trick which he supposed
his old chief had played upon him.
The trial of Banker delayed the homeward journey of Captain Horn and his
party, for Cheditafa and Mok were needed as witnesses, but did not delay
it long. It was early in August, when the danger from floating icebergs
had almost passed, and when an ocean journey is generally most pleasant,
that nine happy people sailed from Havre for New York. Captain Horn and
Edna had not yet fully planned their future life, but they knew that they
had enough money to allow them to select any sphere of life toward which
ordinary human ambitions would be apt to point, and if they never
received another bar of the unapportioned treasure, they would not only
be preeminently satisfied with what fortune had done for them, but would
be relieved of the great responsibilities which greater fortune must
bring with it.
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