ou have! He
supplanted you in the affections of your betrothed, and tried to betray
her to ruin!"

"Don't talk about it, or I shall go mad! It was bad enough when I came
home expecting to marry my little girl immediately, and to take her right
home to our pleasant farmhouse, to find that I had lost her forever!
Still, for her dear sake, I bore that. But now, to know that the man who
won her from me had a living wife, and deliberately planned her
ruin----Oh-h-h! I shall go mad!"

"What has excited you so, Le?"

"The telegram! I have heard the telegram from the Rev. Dr. Minitree read,
confirming all that woman told us!"

"But, dear Le, you had heard her story!"

"I never believed it. Heaven knows, I never believed it! It seemed too
unlikely, too preposterous, that the man should have married that woman!"

"But, dear Le, I gave you a hint of how the case stood when we first met,
and I saw how cut up you were about losing the girl. I gave you as strong
a hint as I could give without breaking faith with the woman, that no
marriage could take place between Col. Anglesea and Miss Force."

"Oh, you told me, in a mysterious, oracular sort of way, that something
would be sure to happen to prevent the marriage; and, when I doubted, you
pledged your honor that there would be an arrest of the proceedings. And
then I almost believed you without further explanation; but, when that
woman claimed the bridegroom as her husband, I thought you might have been
deceived by an adventuress with forged marriage certificates, and I
doubted the whole story, until it was confirmed by the telegram. Now the
villain shall answer to me for his outrageous crimes against me and
mine!"

"Come in, Le, and sit down, and calm yourself. Aunt Sibby will be glad to
see you."

"No, no, I cannot. I must go back to Greenbushes. My overseer needs me.
You said you would take my challenge and be my second?"

"Yes, indeed, I will, with all my heart and soul!"

"Then here is the missive. Take it at once to that scoundrel. You will
find him at the Calvert Hotel. Make all the arrangements, and then come
and report to me at Greenbushes. Will you do so?"

"Indeed, I will. You may rely upon me, old fellow."

"Thank you, thank you!" said Le, warmly, as he handed an enveloped note to
Roland, remounted his horse and rode off.

Roland Bayard turned and opened the door, to go into the house, and almost
stumbled over Miss Sibby in his progress.

"Why, aunty, I