rom without; and the shutters of the dining-room, into which I
was led directly, and which was feebly illuminated by a lamp, were even
more elaborately fortified. The panels were strengthened by bars and
cross-bars; and these, in their turn, were kept in position by a system
of braces and struts, some abutting on the floor, some on the roof, and
others, in fine, against the opposite wall of the apartment. It was at
once a solid and well-designed piece of carpentry; and I did not seek to
conceal my admiration.

"I am the engineer," said Northmour. "You remember the planks in the
garden? Behold them!"

"I did not know you had so many talents," said I.

"Are you armed?" he continued, pointing to an array of guns and pistols,
all in admirable order, which stood in line against the wall or were
displayed upon the sideboard.

"Thank you," I returned; "I have gone armed since our last encounter.
But, to tell you the truth, I have had nothing to eat since early
yesterday evening."

Northmour produced some cold meat, to which I eagerly set myself, and a
bottle of good Burgundy, by which, wet as I was, I did not scruple to
profit. I have always been an extreme temperance man on principle; but
it is useless to push principle to excess, and on this occasion I
believe that I finished three-quarters of the bottle. As I ate, I still
continued to admire the preparations for defence.

"We could stand a siege," I said at length.

"Ye--es," drawled Northmour; "a very little one, per--haps. It is not so
much the strength of the pavilion I misdoubt; it is the double danger
that kills me. If we get to shooting, wild as the country is, some one
is sure to hear it, and then--why, then it's the same thing, only
different, as they say: caged by law, or killed by _carbonari_. There's
the choice. It is a devilish bad thing to have the law against you in
this world, and so I tell the old gentleman upstairs. He is quite of my
way of thinking."

"Speaking of that," said I, "what kind of person is he?"

"Oh, he!" cried the other; "he's a rancid fellow, as far as he goes. I
should like to have his neck wrung to-morrow by all the devils in Italy.
I am not in this affair for him. You take me? I made a bargain for
Missy's hand, and I mean to have it too."

"That by the way," said I. "I understand. But how will Mr. Huddlestone
take my intrusion?"

"Leave that to Clara," returned Northmour.

I could have struck him in the face for this coarse