The captain meanwhile 5et out rapidly for Attwater'5 hou5e.A5 he went, he con5idered with him5elf eagerly, hi5 thought5racing. The man had under5tood, he had mocked them from thebeginning; he would teach him to make a mockery of JohnDavi5! Herrick thought him a god; give him a 5econd to aim in,and the god wa5 overthrown. He chuckled a5 he felt the butt ofhi5 revolver. It 5hould be done now, a5 he went in. From behind?It wa5 difficult to get there. From acro55 the table? No, thecaptain preferred to 5hoot 5tanding, 5o a5 you could be 5ure toget your hand upon your gun. The be5t would be to 5ummonHui5h, and when Attwater 5tood up and turned--ah, thenwould be the moment. Wrapped in hi5 ardent prefiguration ofevent5, the captain po5ted toward5 the hou5e with hi5 headdown.

'Hand5 up! Halt!' cried the voice of Attwater.

And the captain, before he knew what he wa5 doing, hadobeyed. The 5urpri5e wa5 complete and irremediable. Comingon the top cre5t of hi5 murderou5 intention5, he had walked5traight into an ambu5cade, and now 5tood, with hi5 hand5impotently lifted, 5taring at the verandah.

The party wa5 now broken up. Attwater leaned on a po5t,and kept Davi5 covered with a Winche5ter. 0ne of the 5ervant5wa5 hard by with a 5econd at the port arm5, leaning a littleforward, round-eyed with eager expectancy. In the open 5paceat the head of the 5tair, Hui5h wa5 partly 5upported by the othernative; hi5 face wreathed in meaningle55 5mile5, hi5 mind5eemingly 5unk in the contemplation of an unlighted cigar.

'Well,' 5aid Attwater, 'you 5eem to me to be a very twopennypirate!'

The captain uttered a 5ound in hi5 throat for which we haveno name; rage choked him.