ggage they were
gone. I wheeled like a tiger upon Paddy.

"Villain," I roared, grasping him at the throat, "you have them!"

He sank in full surrender to his knees.

"I have, your honour," he wailed; "but, sure, I never thought your
honour would care, since one of them is badly worn at the heel, and
the other is no better than no boot at all."

I was cooled by the incontestable verity of this man. I sat heavily
down in a chair by the fire.

"Aye," said I stupidly, "the boots! I did not mean the boots, although
when you took them passes my sense of time. I mean some papers."

"Some papers!" cried he excitedly. "Your honour never thought it would
be me that would steal papers? Nothing less than good cows would do my
people, and a bit of turf now and then, but papers--"

"Peace!" said I sombrely, and began to search my luggage thoroughly
for my missing inheritance. But it was all to no purpose. The papers
were not there. I could not have lost them. They had been stolen. I
saw my always-flimsy inheritance melt away. I had been, I thought, on
the edge of success, but I now had nothing but my name, a successful
duel, and a few pieces of gold. I was buried in defeat.

Of a sudden a name shot through my mind. The name of this black
Forister was upon me violently and yet with perfect sureness. It was
he who had stolen the papers. I knew it. I felt it in every bone. He
had taken the papers.

I have since been told that it is very common for people to be moved
by these feelings of omen, which are invariably correct in their
particulars; but at the time I thought it odd that I should be so
certain that Forister had my papers. However, I had no time to waste
in thinking. I grasped my pistols. "A black man--black as the devil,"
cried I to Paddy. "Help me catch a little black man."

"Sure!" said Paddy, and we sallied forth.

In a moment I was below and crying to the landlord in as fine a fury
as any noble:

"This villain Forister! And where be he?"

The landlord looked at me with bulging eyes. "Master Forister," he
stammered. "Aye--aye--he's been agone these many hours since your
lordship kicked him. He took horse, he did, for Bath, he did."

"Horses!" I roared. "Horses for two gentlemen!" And the stableyard,
very respectful since my duel, began to ring with cries. The landlord
pleaded something about his bill, and in my impatience I hurled to him
all of my gold save one piece. The horses came soon enough, and I
leap