d, looking agitated, as if he had been in a storm of
anger which had scarce had time to subside. His glance at me was more
charged with hate and menace than ever before. He beckoned the Captain
to the other end of the hall, and there they talked for awhile in
undertones, the Count often shaking his head quickly, and taking short
walks to and fro; sometimes he clenched his fists, or breathed heavy
sighs of irritation, or darted at me a swift look of malevolence and
threat. I could only assume that something had passed between the
Countess and him during his visit to her prison--perhaps she had shown
anxiety as to whether I had fled--which had suddenly quickened and
increased his jealousy of me.

At last the Count seemed to accept some course advised by his friend. He
came towards me, the Captain following with slower steps. In a dry
voice, well under control, the Count said to me:

"Permit me to relieve you, Monsieur, of the burden of those weapons you
carry. I am annoyed that you should think it desirable to wear them in
my house, as if it were the road."

Startled, I put my hands on the hilts of my sword and dagger, and took a
step backward.

"Your annoyance is somewhat strange, Monsieur," said I, "considering
that you and the Captain wear your swords indoors as well as out. I
thought it was the custom of this house."

"If so," replied the Count, with his ghastly smile, "it is a custom that
a guest forfeits the benefit of by killing two of my dependents. Come,
young gentleman. Don't be so rude as to make me ask twice."

The Captain now stepped forward more briskly, his hand on his own sword.
Taking his motion as a threatening one, and scarce knowing what to do, I
drew my weapons upon impulse and presented, not the handles, but the
points. But ere I could think, the Captain's long rapier flashed out, it
moved so swiftly I could not see it, and my own sword was torn from my
grip and sent whirring across the hall. In the next instant, the guard
of the Captain's sword was locked against the guard of my dagger, and
his left hand gripped my wrist. It was such a trick as a fencing master
might have played on a new pupil, or as I had heard attributed to my
father but had never seen him perform. It showed me what a swordsman
that red Captain was, and how much I had yet to learn ere I dared
venture against such an adversary. And there was his bold red-splashed
face close to mine, smiling in derision of my surprise and disc