inst a
champion; but many a bad man has been a good swordsman."

"So, that's what good swordsmanship does, is it? I wondered what it was
that did it. I hear you fight him still--but with a bludgeon, and he
dodges it."

"I do not understand," declared Lord Mallow tartly. "Ah, wasn't there
some difference over his going for the treasure to Haiti? Some one
told me, I think, that you were not in favour of his getting his
ticket-of-leave, or whatever it is called, and that the provost-marshal
gave it to him, as he had the right to do."

"You have wide sources of information in this case. I wonder--"

"No, your honour need not wonder. I was told that by a gentleman on the
steamer coming here. He was a native of the island, I think--or perhaps
it was the captain, or the mate, or the boatswain. I can't recall. Or
maybe it came to me from my manager, Darius Boland, who hears things
wherever he is, one doesn't know how; but he hears them. He is to me
what your aide-de-camp is to you," she nodded towards a young man near
by at the table.

"And do you dress your Darius Boland as I dress my aide in scarlet, with
blue facings and golden embroidery, and put a stiff hat with a feather
on his head?"

"But no, he does not need such things. I am a Republican now. I am a
citizen of the United States, where men have no need of uniform to tell
the world what they are. You shall see my Darius Boland--indeed, you
have seen him. He was there to-day when you gave me the distinction of
your presence."

"That dry, lean, cartridge of a fellow, that pair of pincers with a
face!"

"And a tongue, your honour. If you did not hear it yet, you will hear
it. He is to be my manager here. So he will be under your control--if I
permit him."

"If you permit him, mistress?"

"If I permit him, yes. You are a power, but you are not stronger than
the laws and rules you make. For instance, there was the case of Mr.
Dyck Calhoun. When he came, you were for tying him up in one little
corner of this island--the hottest part, I know, near to Kingston, where
it averages ninety degrees in the shade at any time of the year. But the
King you represent had not restricted his liberties so, and you
being the King, that is, yourself, were forced to abide by your own
regulations. So it may be the same with Darius Boland. He may want
something, and you, high up, looking down, will say, 'What devilry
is here!' and decline. He will then turn to your chief-justice or