me, even to dining at
the club, but afterwards, upon entering the smoking-room and taking a
cigar, he found the place half full, and, longing for solitude, he went
out to stroll down the steps and into the Park for an hour, ending by
taking one of the seats under an old elm in the Mall and sitting back
thinking of all that had happened during the past few weeks.

He was once more going over the scenes by the wounded man's couch, and
seeing again the every movement and look of his anxious sister, when he
shrank back against the trunk of the great tree and let his chin sink
upon his breast, for there were steps just to the right, and two
gentlemen strolled by, one of them talking aloud angrily, and the
following words smote like blows upon the listener's ears--

"Look here, if you want to quarrel, say so, Paddy. But you're no saint,
so don't you begin preaching morality. I repeat I have taken a
tremendous fancy to her; what then? As for Rob, curse him for a
miserable prig! If it were not for the consequences I'm ready to wish
that the shot had ended it, and I swear I'll--"

The last words died out into the night air, and, save for the
preternaturally excited state of his brain, Chester would not have heard
so much.

He sat up, and saw the figures of the brothers, who had passed him,
growing indistinct as they went beyond the next lamp; and then he rose
and followed.

"`And I swear I'll--' what?" said Chester to himself. "Shoot me? Well,
let him. There, it's all over. I can't go away; I must see this out to
the very end."

Chester followed the pair with the full intention of demanding an
explanation and having a scene with the elder brother, for his
resentment seemed to be making the blood bubble up through his veins.
They were walking through the Palace Yard, and directly after they
crossed the road and went up St James's Street, talking angrily; and he
was just about to join them when he saw the younger turn angrily off
into the road, as if about to separate, but in an instant the elder had
him by the arm and after a faint resistance led him back on to the
pavement, where Chester was awaiting them.

"Mr Clareborough," he said sharply, and both brothers turned upon him
in surprise.

"Yes; what is it?" cried the elder. "Oh, the man in the wrong box!
Come along, boy."

He turned short off, and before Chester could recover from his surprise,
the brothers had passed through the swinging doors of one of th