my wager and win the widow."

"Done! I 'll bet you a thousand pounds to ten; book it, with the date,
and I 'll sign it."

While Agincourt was yet speaking, O'Shea had produced a small note-book,
and was recording the bet. Scarcely had he clasped the little volume
again, when the waiter entered, and handed him a note.

O'Shea read it rapidly, and, finishing off his glass, refilled and drank
it. "I must leave you for half an hour," said he, hastily. "There's a
friend of mine in a bit of a scrape with one of these French officers;
but I 'll be back presently."

"I say, make your man fight. Don't stand any bullying with those
fellows."

O'Shea did not wait for his counsels, but hurried off.

"This way, sir," whispered a man to him, as he passed out into the court
of the hotel; "the carriage is round the corner."

He followed the man, and in a few minutes found himself in a narrow
by-street, where a single carriage was standing. The glass was
quietly let down as he drew near, and a voice he had no difficulty in
recognizing, said, "I have just received a most urgent letter, and
I must leave Rome tomorrow at daybreak, for Germany. I have learned,
besides, that Paten is at Baden. He was on his way here, but stopped to
try his luck at the tables. He has twice broken the bank, and swears he
will not leave till he has succeeded a third time. We all well know how
such pledges finish. But you must set off there at once. Leave to-morrow
night, if you can, and by the time you arrive, or the day after, you 'll
find a letter for you at the post, with my address, and all your future
directions. Do nothing with Paten till you hear; mind that,--nothing. I
have not time for another word, for I am in terror lest my absence from
the house should be discovered. If anything imminent occur, you shall
hear by telegraph."

"Let me drive back with you; I have much to say, much to ask you," said
he, earnestly.

"On no account. There, good-bye; don't forget me."

While he yet held her hand, the word was given to drive on, and his
farewell was lost in the rattling of the wheels over the pavement.

"Well, have you patched it up, or is it a fight?" asked Agincourt when
he entered the room once more.

"You'll keep my secret, I know," said O'Shea, in a whisper. "Don't even
breathe a word to Heathcote, but I 'll have to leave this to-morrow, get
over the nearest frontier, and settle this affair."

"You 'd like some cash, would n't you?--at