g man will
see that I have fair play."

Girard here spoke up and demanded:

"Who are you? How dare you enter my house uninvited and unannounced?"

The youth assumed a merry demeanor and said:

"I thought there was going to be some fun here and I dropped in; that's
all. I like a fight--a good square fight."

The men were evidently unmanned. There was something going on that they
evidently did not understand. They were very shrewd men--great schemers.
They believed they had played a good trick, but suddenly there came a
change in their belief. There had followed a succession of strange and
remarkable developments which they did not understand. The mystery
paralyzed them; the boldness of the move terrorized them. Indeed,
Thatford, who was usually a pretty nervy man, edged toward the door, but
Oscar called out:

"Hold on, mister, don't go. Remember this lackey here was to afford you
some excellent amusement. He looks as though he were just the man to
keep his word. He shall keep it, and afford you the amusement he
promised. I will aid him. See, he is all ready; he is stripped for the
fun. I do not need to strip. Give him a sword, give me a sword and we'll
have gore; yes, we'll have gore. I will punish him, and then, gentlemen,
I will be prepared to mix the gore. Yes, we shall have lots of
amusement; it will be a roaring farce."

One of the men appeared to recover his nerve and said:

"Say, mister, you call us thieves, but I reckon you are a thief. You
have undoubtedly arranged a good little game of your own."

"Oh, yes, I've arranged a good little game. I invited yonder fellow to
my house to engage in a game of draw. I had three dummies ready to run
on and make a trumped-up accusation. I attempted to force a duel on the
man I had inveigled into my house. I had a disguised swordsman in the
garb of a lackey to do the murder act. Oh, yes, I am a thief, and I
planned well--so well that I have you gentlemen all at my mercy. Just
witness how well I planned."

Again Oscar stamped his foot on the floor and three men entered the
room, and they were fully equal to the part they were called upon to
play. The rascals thus overmatched realized the neat manner in which
they had been beaten. Terror filled their hearts, for they did not at
the moment know how well they had been trailed down. One fact was
patent to them, and that was that they had put up, as they supposed, a
great trick on a detective and had been outwitted in t