“Ho, ho!  I thought you were always victorious with the women.”

“So I have been until now, and I am by no means vanquished yet, in this instance; but I have a rival in the way, one, too, that had possession of the citadel of her heart, ere I became a candidate for her hand; that makes a great difference, you know; then, to make the matter worse, I knew nothing about the state of the case until I had spent a length of time in wooing, all to no purpose, because of my ignorance.  But enough of this.  If worst comes to worst, rivals must be got out of the way.”

“Be guarded there, Duffel; a resort to foul means must never be had until every other method has been ‘tried and found wanting.’  Remember that.  One murder will do more against us than fifty thefts or robberies.”

“I know all that, captain, and shall not peril the existence of our organization, or even the safety of one of its members, except necessity compels to the act; but I think there will be no need of adopting extreme measures in the present case.  I have a different plan of operations marked out, which, with your assistance and approval, I will first act upon, and if it fails, then something else afterward.”

“Well, proceed; I am all attention, and will not fail to render such assistance as shall be in my power, though you know my time is limited.”

“I shall not draw upon you for much aid; an hour is all the time it will require for your part of the performance.  But before you can appreciate the merits of my scheme, it is necessary that I should make some explanations.  You remember the conversation we held in old Marshall’s garden?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it turned out that Miss Mandeville was in the arbor and overheard a part of what passed between us.”

“The devil she did!”

“Yes, but only enough to excite her suspicions that there was something in the wind—­nothing definite or satisfactory, so that we may consider ourselves safe on that score.”

“But, between you and me, Duffel, I don’t like these suspicions; they are apt to lead to something worse.”

“True; but in this instance I think such will not be the result.  However, I must be frank with you, and I hope, if I have gone too far in any point, you will pardon me, for I did the very best that could be done under the circumstances, I think.  As I said, Miss Mandeville heard a few words that passed between us at the time referred to, and when, a short time afterward, her father urged upon her the propriety of accepting me as a suitor for her hand, she must needs tell him of this little incident!”

“Worse and worse!”