If so, and he still desired to keep control, he would naturally guard her all the more closely from either speech, or contact with others.

His only safety would lie in such action.

I had heard him express boastingly his original design relative to both these girls; I comprehended the part he intended Eloise Beaucaire to play in his future, and realized that he cared more to gain possession of her, to get her into his power, than he did to obtain control of the slave.
This knowledge helped me to understand the predicament which this revelation put him into, and how desperately he would strive to retain the upper hand.

If, in very truth, she was Judge Beaucaire's white daughter, and could gain communication with others of her class, bringing to them proof of her identity, there would be real men enough on board the _Adventurer_ to rally to her support.

Those army officers alone would be sufficient to overcome any friends Kirby might call upon, and in that case the gambler's house of cards would fall instantly into ruins.