bout Lady Kilgoffs going in the yacht, which,
although seeming accident, must have been planned
previously. If you had been here the matter might have taken
another turn, as C. appears very tired of K.'s agency, and
the difficulty of obtaining money from him.

I have received a few lines from C., dated from "the
harbor," to order a "fourgon" to be got ready; but I shall
pretend not to have received the note, and leave this, if
you desire it, for Tubbermore on hearing from you.

Yours, in duty,

R. Phillis.

Linton crashed the note passionately in his fingers, and with a cheek
almost purple, and swollen knotted veins about the forehead and temples,
he hastily walked to and fro in the apartment. "So, madam," said he, "is
this, then, the reason of your compliance? Was this the source of that
yielding to my wishes that induced you to come here? And to dare this
towards _me!_" A fiendish laugh burst from him as he said, "Silly fool;
so long as you played fair, the advantage was all on your own side. Try
to cheat, and you 'll see who's the victor! And that cub, too," added
he, with a hoarse passion, "who ventures a rivalry with me! Hate has an
inspiration that never deceives; from the first moment I saw him I felt
that for him."

"You say you wanted the masons, sir," said Keane, opening the door,
where he had been endeavoring, but ineffectually, to catch the clew of
Linton's words.

"Yes, let them come here," said he, with his ordinary composure. "You
are to break a door there," said he, as the men entered, "and I wish
to have it done with all speed. You 'll work all night, and be doubly
paid." As he spoke, he sauntered out to muse over the late tidings he
had received, and plan within himself the coming campaign.

Thus loitering and reflecting, time slipped by and evening drew near.

"We must have a light here," said one of the masons. "This room is never
very bright, and now it is almost dark as night. But what have we here?"
And at the moment his hammer sent forth a ringing sound as if it had
struck upon metal.

"What can it be?" said the other; "it seems like a plate of iron."

Linton now drew nigh, as he overheard these words, and stationing
himself at a small window, beheld the two men as they labored to detach
what seemed a heavy stone in the wall.

"It's not a plate of iron, but a box," cried one.

"Hush," said the other, cautioning silence; "if it's mon