.

"Where the devil's that snuff-box!" the sallow-faced man exclaimed.
"Left it somewhere!" Then, looking about him to make sure that the door
was closed. "See, here sir," he said awkwardly, "it's no business of
mine, but for a man who has served as you say you have, you're a d----d
simple fellow. Take my advice and don't go to Lemoine's at three, if
you go at all."

"No?" the Colonel echoed.

"Can't you see they'll all be there to guy you?" Marsh retorted
impatiently. He could not help liking the man, and yet the man seemed a
fool! The next moment, with a hasty nod, he was gone. He had found the
box in his pocket.

Colonel Sullivan smiled, and, after carefully brushing the crumbs from
his breeches, rose from the table. "A good man," he muttered. "Pity he
has not more courage." The next moment he came to attention, for slowly
past the window moved Captain Payton himself, riding Flavia's mare, and
talking with one of the young bloods who walked at his stirrup.

The man and the horse! The Colonel began to understand that something
more than wantonness had inspired Payton's conduct the previous night.
Either he had been privy from the first to the plot to waylay the
horse; or he had bought it cheaply knowing how it had been acquired;
or--a third alternative--it had been placed in his hands, to the end
that his reputation as a fire-eater might protect it. In any event, he
had had an interest in nipping inquiry in the bud; and, learning who
the Colonel was, had acted on the instant, and with considerable
presence of mind.

The Colonel looked thoughtful; and though the day was fine for
Ireland--that is, no more than a small rain was falling--he remained
within doors until five minutes before three o'clock. Bale had employed
the interval in brushing the stains of travel from his master's
clothes, and combing his horseman's wig with particular care; so that
it was a neat and spruce gentleman who at five minutes before three
walked through Tralee, and, attending to the directions he had
received, approached a particular door, a little within the barrack
gate.

Had he glanced up at the windows he would have seen faces at them;
moreover, a suspicious ear might have caught, as he paused on the
threshold, a scurrying of feet, mingled with stifled laughter. But he
did not look up. He did not seem to expect to see more than he found,
when he entered--a great bare room with its floor strewn with sawdust
and its walls adorned