ltered and hesitated, totally
unable to proceed. At last he said, half inquiringly,--

"'At all events, Paul, _you_ cannot like Hawke?'

"'Like him! there is not the man on earth I hate as I hate _him!_'

"'That's exactly what Towers said: "Paul detests him more than we do."'

"The moment Collins said these words the whole thing flashed full upon
me. They were plotting to do for Hawke, and wanted to know how far I
might be trusted in the scheme.

"'Look here, Tom,' said I, confidentially; 'don't tell me anything. I
don't want to be charged with other men's secrets; and, in return, I'll
promise not to pry after them. "Make your little game," as they say at
Ascot, and don't ask whether I'm in the ring or not. Do you understand
me?'

"'I do, perfectly,' said he. 'The only point Towers really wanted to be
sure of is, what of _her?_ What he says is, there's no telling what a
woman will do.'

"' If I were merely to give an opinion,' said I, carelessly, 'I 'd say,
no danger from that quarter; but, mind, it's only an opinion.'

"'Wake says you'd marry her,' said he, bluntly, and with an abruptness
that showed he had at length got courage to say what he wanted.

"'Tom Collins,' said I, seriously, 'let us play fair; don't question
me, and I 'll not question _you_.'

"'But you 'll come along with us?' asked he, eagerly.

"'I 'm not so sure of that, now,' said I; 'but if I do, it's on one only
condition.'

"'And that is--'

"'That I 'm to know nothing, or hear nothing, of whatever you 're about.
I tell you distinctly that I 'll not pry anywhere, but, in return, treat
me as a stranger in whose discretion you cannot trust.'

"'You like sure profits and a safe venture, in fact,' said he,
sneeringly.

"'Say one half of that again, Collins,' said I, 'and I'll cut with the
whole lot of you. I ask no share. I 'd accept no share in your gains
here.'

"'But you 'll not peach on us, Paul?' said he, catching my hand.

"'Never,' said I, 'as long as you are on the square with _me_.'

"After this, he broke out into the wildest abuse of Hawke, making him
out--as it was not hard to do--the greatest villain alive, mingling the
attack with a variety of details of the vast sums he had latterly been
receiving. 'There are,' he said, 'more than two thousand in hard cash
in his hands at this moment, and a number of railway shares and some
Peruvian bonds, part of his first wife's fortune, which he has just
recovered by a lawsuit.' S