This information threw the landlord into such a fix, that he knew not what to be at.  At one moment he was for rushing up stairs and endeavouring to interfere, and at another he thought the best plan would be to pretend that he knew nothing about it.

While he was in this state of uncertainty, the stranger succeeded in making his way up stairs to the floor from which proceeded the bedrooms, and, apparently, having no fear whatever of the Baron Stolmuyer’s indignation before his eyes, he opened door after door, until he came to one which led him into the apartment occupied by that illustrious individual.

The baron, half undressed only, lay in an uneasy slumber upon the bed, and the stranger stood opposite to him for some minutes, as if considering what he should do.

“It would be easy,” he said, “to kill him; but it will pay me better to spare him.  I may be wrong in supposing that he has the means which I hope he has; but that I shall soon discover by his conversation.”

Stretching out, his hand, he tapped the baron lightly on the shoulder, who thereupon opened his eyes and sprang to his feet instantly, glancing with fixed earnestness at the intruder, upon whose face shone the light of a lamp which was burning in the apartment.

Then the baron shrunk back, and the stranger, folding his arms, said,—­

“You know me.  Let our interview be as brief as possible.  There needs no explanations between us, for we both know all that could be said.  By some accident you have become rich, while I continue quite otherwise.  It matters not how this has occurred, the fact is everything.  I don’t know the amount of your possessions; but, from your style of living, they must be great, and therefore it is that I make no hesitation in asking of you, as a price for not exposing who and what you are, a moderate sum.”

“I thought that you were dead.”

“I know you did; but you behold me here, and, consequently, that delusion vanishes.”

“What sum do you require, and what assurance can I have that, when you get if, the demand will not be repeated on the first opportunity?”

“I can give you no such assurance, perhaps, that would satisfy you entirely; but, for more reasons than I choose to enter into, I am extremely anxious to leave England at once and forever.  Give me the power to do so that I require, and you will never hear of me again.”

[Illustration]

The baron hesitated for some few seconds, during which he looked scrutinizingly at his companion, and then he said, in a tone of voice that seemed as if he were making the remark to himself rather than to the other,—­

“You look no older than you did when last we parted, and that was years ago.”

“Why should I look older?  You know as well as I that I need not.  But, to be brief, I do not wish to interfere with any plans or projects you may have on hand.  I do not wish to be a hindrance to you.  Let me have five thousand pounds, and I am off at once and forever, I tell you.”