rict surveillance over his acts, we
may be able to get at the truth of the matter, and can then act
understandingly in the case."

Mr. Mandeville coincided with the magistrate, and then they agreed to keep
the matter strictly to themselves for the present.

"Shall I retain the letter?" inquired the justice.

"No, I wish to use it, first, and will then leave it with you," was the
reply--and thus the matter was settled between them.

While the events just related were transpiring, and at the very hour when
Mr. Mandeville was consulting the man of law, Duffel was engaged with his
two ruffian associates in a plot of villainy, which, for deep cunning and
calculation, was superior to anything he had yet conceived and carried out,
though it was but a link in the chain of criminal acts he had forged out
and was about to follow up. The two held their consultation in the
tongueless and earless solitude of a dense swamp, where none could hear
their words or learn the purport of their schemes and give warning.

"You understand about the horses, do you?" queried Duffel, after he had
been explaining some intended operation, in which horses were to be stolen.

"Yes, fully," was the reply.

"Well, the horses will be missed, and, of course, it will be known that
_somebody_ has taken them. I have a measure to propose which will throw
suspicion on the wrong track and relieve us from any fear of being charged
with the theft or even suspected of guilt."

"That's the sort! do the killing and get the halter around some other
rascal's neck. Let us hear your proposition, lieutenant."

"You have not forgotten that I mentioned to you in the cave the other
evening, that I might need your services in getting rid of a troublesome
fellow who was in my way. I did not then expect to need your services so
soon, if at all, in this branch of our agreement; but, as the horse
business is agreed upon, and as the fellow may possibly be something of a
hindrance to my plans of operation in the future, I think this will be a
first-rate occasion on which to dispose of him. As I said, somebody will be
accused of stealing the horses, and as it is known that you, gentlemen,
have recently been in these parts, and as suspicion has long since pointed
to you as having had a hand in several transactions held to be unlawful,
you will, as a matter of certainty, be designated as the thieves in this
instance, unless, by some master-stroke of policy, you can fairly sh