have an opportunity to dispose of this French spy
ere the return of his master. I care not what method you take to
silence his tongue,--but be secret and sure; and when the work is
done, you shall have your reward--not before.'

"Having thus spoken, her ladyship swept out of the room with the air
of a queen, leaving me to devise the best method of silencing Lagrange
forever. I could not mistake her ladyship's meaning; she wished me to
_murder_ the man. Now, the fact is, ladies and gentlemen, murder's a
devilish ticklish business, any how; not that I ever had any false
delicacy in relation to the wickedness of the thing--pshaw! nothing of
the kind,--you'll all believe me when I assure you that I'd as soon
cut a human throat, as wring the neck of a chicken, for that matter;
but then the consequences of a discovery are so ducedly unpleasant,
and although I am confident in my own mind that I am destined to
terminate my existence ornamented with a hempen cravat, I have never
had any desire to hasten that consummation. So I didn't altogether
relish the job which her ladyship had given me; but when I thought of
her surpassing beauty, my hesitation vanished like mists before the
rising sun, and I resolved to do it.

"Several times the next day I tried to provoke Lagrange into a
quarrel, but the wily rascal, as if divining my intentions, only
shrugged his shoulders and smiled in the cold and sarcastic manner
peculiar to him. This enraged me greatly, and after applying the most
abusive epithets to him, I finally struck him. But all availed
nothing; unlike the majority of his countrymen, the fellow was cold
and passionless, even under insults and blows. I had provided myself
with a sharp butcher's knife, which I carried in my sleeve, ready to
plunge into his heart, had he offered to attack me in return; and thus
I hoped to make it appear that I had slain him in self-defence. But
his admirable coolness and self-possession defeated that scheme,--and
I saw that I would be obliged to slay him deliberately at the first
opportunity.

"That opportunity was not long wanting.

"During the afternoon he had occasion to visit the wine vault, of
which I alone had the key; I accompanied him thither, and while he was
engaged in selecting some malt liquor for the servants' table, I said
to him,--

"'Monsieur Lagrange, you are acquainted with a secret that intimately