shooter; in
his eyes were tiny pin-point flashes of light such as you see in an
opal on a frosty morning. Terror had spread a grim mask upon the
other; his complexion was the colour of oatmeal, his pendulous lips
were quivering, his huge body seemed of a sudden to be deflated. He
might have been an empty gas bag, not a man.

"I'm goin' to tell ye that," continued Uncle Jap mildly, "I come here
to hev a leetle talk with you. Sinse I've bin in San Lorenzy County
two men hev tried to ruin me: one left the county in a hurry; you're
the other."

"I give you my word of honour, Mr. Panel----"

"That's about all _you_ would give, an' it ain't wuth takin'."

"Do you mean to kill me?"

"Ef I hev to, 't won't keep me awake nights."

In my ear I heard his Lily's attenuated whisper: "Nor me neither, if
Jaspar ain't caught."

And I had thought that solicitude for Jaspar's soul had sent his Lily,
hot-foot to prevent the crime of--murder! I learnt something about
women then which I shall not forget.

"You propose to blackmail me, I suppose?"

"Ugly word, that, but it's yours, not mine. I prefer to put it this
way. I propose to consecrate this yere church with an act o' justice."

"Go on!"

"This county wan't big enough for the other feller an' me, so he had
to go; it ain't big enough to-day for you an' me, but this time, I'm
a-goin', whether you stay in it or _under_ it."

At the word "under" Uncle Jap's Lily nudged me. I looked at her. Her
face was radiant. Her delight in her husband at such a moment, her
conviction that he was master of the situation, that he had regained
by this audacious move all the prestige which he had in her
estimation, lost--these things rejuvenated her.

"It's a question of dollars, of course?"

"That's it. Before you ask for credit with the angel Gabriel, you've
got to squar' up with Jaspar Panel."

"With the dear Lord's help, Jaspar has found a way," whispered the
joyful voice in my ear.

"How much?" demanded Leveson. His colour was coming back.

"We've got to figger on that. Take a pencil an' paper an' sit down."

"This is ridiculous."

"Sit down, you----"

Nathaniel Leveson sat down. The vestry had been used by the contractor
as an office; the plain deal table was littered with scraps of paper.
Leveson took out a gold pencil-case.

"Married man, ain't ye?" said Uncle Jap, with seeming irrelevance.

"Yes."

"Ever give your wife a ti-airy: diamond crown, sorter?"

"What the-