e pit by the side-entrance,
which gave on the cherry garden, where tables were spread for luncheon
and pipes fetched for all who cared not to scorch their lips with
Spanish cigars.

Sir Peter, hard hit, moved about in great good humor, a seed-cake in
one hand, a mug of beer in t'other; and who could suppose he stood to
lose the thousand guineas he had such need of--and more besides!--so
much more that it turned me cold to think of Duke Street, and how on
earth I was to find funds for the bare living, luxuries aside.

As for O'Neil, the crazy, warm-hearted Irishman went about blustering
for odds--pure, generous bravado!--and the Fifty-fourth, to their
credit, let him go unharmed, and Harkness, too. As for me, I was very
quiet, holding my peace and my opinions to myself, which was proper, as
I had laid not one penny on a feather that day.

Sir Peter, seeing me sitting alone under a cherry-tree, came strolling
over, followed by Horrock.

"Well, Carus," he said, smiling blandly, "more dealing with Duke
Street, eh? Pooh! There's balm in Gilead and a few shillings left still
in the Dock-Ward!" He laughed, but I said nothing. "Speak out, man!" he
said gaily; "what do you read by the pricking of your thumbs?"

"Ask Horrock," I said bluntly. He turned to the grim-visaged retainer,
laying his hand familiarly on the old man's shoulder.

"Horrock begs me to ride for an even break," he said; "don't you, O
paragon among pitters?"

"Yes, sir, I do. Ask Mr. Renault what Sir William Johnson's Huron Reds
did to the Patroon's Tartars in every main fought 'twixt Johnstown and
Albany in '72 and '73."

I looked up, astounded. "Have you four Hurons to show?" I asked Sir
Peter, incredulously.

"I have," he said.

A desperate hope glimmered in my mind--nay, not merely a hope but a
fair certainty that ruin could be held at arm's length for a while. So
possessed was I by absolute faith in Sir William Johnson's strain,
called Hurons, that I listened approvingly to Sir Peter's plans for a
dashing recoup. After all, it was now or never; the gamblers' fever
seized me, too, in a vise-like grip. Why should I not win a thousand
guineas for my prisoners, risking but a few hundred on such a hazard!

"You will be there, of course," he said. And after a long silence, I
answered:

"No, I shall walk in the garden until you finish. The main should be
ended at five."

"As you choose, Carus," he answered pleasantly, glancing at his watch.
Then