It was not; it was a deliberately planned, cold-blooded plot.

I tell you that Joe Kirby is of the devil's own breed; he is not human.

Rene's father told him first of the peculiar conditions at Beaucaire." "Rene's father! Does--does he still live ?" "No; but he did live for years after he disappeared, supporting himself by gambling on the lower river.

At one time he and Kirby were together.

After he died Kirby investigated his story in St.Louis and found that it was true.