n to laugh. Clenched fists relaxed, and the men clapped
the intruder jovially on the shoulder, as they again took their places
around the table.

"Haven't you a spare pipe to lend me?" Manasseh asked his right-hand
neighbour.

"Yes, yes, to be sure," was the ready reply.

Manasseh filled the proffered pipe, drew from his pocket a banknote
which he rolled into a lighter, thrust it into the candle-flame, and so
kindled his pipe, after which he took up his cards and began to play.

A faint-hearted man, on finding his own and his brothers' lives thus at
stake, would have sought to curry favour by allowing his opponents to
win. But not so Manasseh. He plundered the company without mercy, as
before, and as before he and his _vis-a-vis_ were at last left sole
antagonists, while the others rose from their places and gathered in
groups about these two. Manasseh still continued to win, and his
opponent's supply of money ebbed lower and lower. The loser grew
furious, and drank deeply to keep himself in countenance.

"Give me a swallow of your brandy," said Manasseh, but he had no sooner
tasted it than he pushed the bottle disdainfully away. "Fusel-oil!" he
exclaimed, making a wry face. "To-morrow I will send you a cask of my
plum brandy."

"No, you won't," returned his antagonist.

"Why not, pray?"

"Because to-morrow you shall hang."

"Oh, no," replied Manasseh, lightly, "for that would require my personal
presence, and I am needed elsewhere."

The Wallachian continued to lose. Finally, in his fury, he staked his
last penny--"and your brothers' heads into the bargain!" he added, in
desperation.

The other took him up and staked his own head in addition to the bundle
of notes which he threw down nonchalantly before him.

They played, and again Manasseh won. A man less bold of temperament
might have thought to gain his enemies' good-will by leaving his
winnings on the table. But Manasseh knew better. His opponents, angered
by their losses, called him a robber, but still respected him. Had he,
however, been so timid as to leave the money lying there, they would
have regarded his action as such an insult that he would have been
compelled to fight the entire company, one after another, in single
combat.

"Now, then," said the leader, "we have time to talk. Why are you
here--to persuade us to release your two brothers and leave Toroczko in
peace?"

"A man of your discernment can fathom my motives without asking any