d earn it. I have no
ambition. I stay in my mother's cabin, day after day, unable to make the
least effort. Perhaps I can do something--in time."

The negro took a step away, and then turned, as if unable to go so
abruptly.

"Good-by," he said, again.

"Good-by," answered Daisy, impassively. "I want to tell you, now I think
of it, where I got that $1,000 I gave you. It was lent to me by the man
you hated so, Mr. Roseleaf."

Hannibal did not seem to care for this information.

"He did not lend it for any good-will to me," he replied. "I have heard,
by-the-way, that he did not mind losing you--this man for whom you
spurned a heart that worshiped your very footprints. I believe some day
I'll take a shot at him."

The girl shuddered.

"It would be like you," she said, "if no one was looking, and he did not
know of your presence. I don't believe, with all your claims, there is a
manly trait in you."

The tall form drew itself up and the athletic arms were folded firmly.

"Take care!" said the red lips, sharply, and the ivory white teeth
gleamed.

"Oh, I am not afraid," replied Daisy. "My maid is watching us from
behind the blinds of my room. I told her my own story about why I was to
meet you, but should harm happen to me the alarm bell would ring out."

Startled visibly at this information, Hannibal glanced in the direction
indicated, and then began to take his departure in earnest.

"All right," he said, as he mounted the fence. "Keep your word and I'll
keep mine. But if you play any tricks, remember that's a game for two."

The men could not arise without startling Daisy, who would undoubtedly
have uttered a loud scream had they suddenly appeared before her vision.
They saw her stand there for at least ten minutes, before she went into
the house. When she was out of sight, Weil crawled into a safer place
and rose to his feet.

"I am going to follow that cur!" he muttered, between his teeth.

"To-morrow is soon enough," was the calm reply of his friend. "I know
where he lives."

CHAPTER XXVII.

ABSOLUTELY BLAMELESS.

Most men who are by nature excitable surprise their friends on occasions
by exhibiting great calmness. Shirley Roseleaf, who had often been
thrown into the greatest heat by far less important happenings than the
one just narrated, seemed a picture of repose as he walked through the
wood with his friend in the direction of the horses they had tethered.

"How did you discover the