ll on mine, the hem of her foot-mantle
slightly lifted; and so, turning her head to watch me, she passed the
door, closed it behind her, and was gone.

What the strange maid meant to do I did not know, but I knew what lay
before me now. First I flung aside the curtains of her bed, tore the
fine linen from it, burrowing in downy depths, under pillow, quilt, and
valance, until my hands encountered something hard; and I dragged out
the pistol-case and snapped it open. The silver-chased weapons lay
there in perfect order; under the drawer that held them was another
drawer containing finest priming-powder, shaped wads, ball, and a case
of flints.

So all was ready and in order. I closed the case and hurried up the
stairway to my room, candle in hand. Ha! The wainscot cupboard I had so
cunningly devised was swinging wide. In it had been concealed that
blotted sheet rejected from the copy of my letter to his
Excellency--nothing more; yet that alone was quite enough to hang me,
and I knew it as I stood there, my candle lighting an empty cupboard.

Suddenly terror laid an icy hand upon me. I shook to my knees,
listening. Why had he not denounced me, then? And in the same instant
the answer came: _He_ was to profit by my disgrace; _he_ was to be
aggrandized by my downfall. The drama he had prepared was to be set in
scenery of his own choosing. His savant fingers grasped the tiller,
steering me inexorably to my destruction.

Yet, as I stood there, teeth set, tearing my finery from me, flinging
coat one way, waistcoat another, and dressing me with blind haste in
riding-clothes and boots, I felt that just a single chance was left to
me with honor; and I seized the passes that Sir Henry had handed me for
Sir Peter and his lady, and stuffed them into my breast-pocket.

Gloved, booted, spurred, I caught up the case of pistols, ran down the
stairs, flung open the door, and slammed it behind me.

Sir Peter stood waiting by the coach; and when he saw me with his
pistol-case he said: "Well done, Carus! I had no mind to go hammering
at a friend's door to beg a brace of pistols at such an hour."

I placed the case after he had entered the coach. Dr. Carmody made room
for me, but I shook my head.

"I ride," I said. "Wait but an instant more."

"Why do you ride?" asked Sir Peter, surprised.

"You will understand later," I said gaily. "Be patient, gentlemen;" and
I ran for the stables. Sleepy hostlers in smalls and bare feet tumbled