He should have kept quiet. He believed now that he was coping with a man not completely sane.

Their gazes held and Alec did his best not to betray his convictions. Finally the captain smiled and the tension was broken. “You have nothing to fear from me, Alec. I make no apologies for my beliefs and I certainly do not want you to forgive me for them. Please do not look at me as if I were a mentally sick person and you must humor me. That is too much, and I would like us to continue being friends.”

Alec was startled by the ease with which the captain had read his mind and even more by the direct accusation. “I meant no criticism of you or what you believe in,” he said quickly. “One lives according to his own beliefs, not those of others.”

“Très bien, that is what I hoped you’d say! You are a very tolerant fellow, Alec.”

Alec wondered where such a conversation was leading and how he’d ever get through the night. He tried to read the captain’s face.

“It is for that reason I wanted you to stay,” the captain said.

Alec smiled, surprised at his courage in confrontation with this man. “Because you believe I am a very tolerant fellow?” he asked. “Only that?”

“Of course, Alec,” the captain said kindly, staring at him fixedly. “You are the kind of person who would not think it a complete waste of time to pursue another’s fantasies even though you did not believe in them yourself.”

“And that is important to you?” Alec asked.

“Oui, it is important to me,” the captain repeated. “I have waited a long time to tell someone what I know to be true. But what more I have to say can wait until we have had our dinner. I have talked long enough for now.”

Alec watched the captain rise from his chair, his tall body moving easily and with perfect coordination. He strode toward the kitchen like a tiger in motion.

What more did the captain mean to tell him? Alec wondered. His muscles felt tense and he sought to relax them by getting to his feet and walking around the room. He must be ready to move in any direction at a second’s notice. He had no intention of being easy prey to a man who had the stealth and cunning of a jungle animal. He would have to be on guard every moment during the long night to come.

THE LEGEND
8

“I believe in a world that is far from ordinary,” the captain told Alec after dinner, “one that transcends anything yet conceived or even considered by serious and practical people. If I told them what I tell you, they would think me mad.”

Alec said nothing. All through dinner he had done little but listen to the captain speak of images and symbols that had guided the course of his life. His was more a dark world of mystery and fantasy than one of imagination, pure and simple. The captain might well be a citizen of France, but his Haitian ancestry was the root and essence of all he believed.

“I have not lived in vain, Alec,” the captain went on, “for I have proof of everything I have told you.”

“But why tell me?” Alec asked. “I do not believe all this.”

“Because your coming here is one of the signs,” the captain replied quietly.

“In what way?”

“When I saw your horse on Swedish television, I knew I would find him in America. Truthfully, I did not expect our paths to cross in this swamp, but now I realize it could not have been otherwise.”

“But why my horse?” Alec asked. He knew the answer and was only stalling for time. It had been evident from the moment the captain had set eyes upon the Black that he coveted him for his mare.

“Your horse is worthy of The Ghost, and I would like her to have a foal,” the captain said.

“The Black can’t be used now,” Alec said, surprised at the cold defiance in his voice. He saw quick anger come to the man’s eyes and added more warily, “You must understand, Captain.