“Since, Mr. Hume,” again he took my arm and almost forced me down the steps, “you question my word, I will telegraph to Mrs. Gordon and show you her answer. When I receive that answer, I shall come to your hotel and insist that you give me both the name of the maker to whom you have sent the clock and a written order to him that he deliver it to me. If you refuse, I shall be compelled to call in the police, and I am not unknown here in St. Petersburg.”

“I am afraid I shall find a means to evade your police, Duke da Sestos,” I said, laughing.

A moment he looked at me, puzzled, then, seeing my contempt for his threat, laughed also.

“La, la, it is true. I am a great fool. I might know that to threaten Mr. Hume is not the way to gain one’s ends. Look, I threaten, I demand no longer. I beg. I throw myself on Mr. Hume’s mercy. I confess I am most anxious to see the 110clock. I take it for granted that Mr. Hume has had reasons for my not seeing it. But come, we will play fair. You have the clock, it is true. But, after all, I have the right to it. Let us grant, then, that we stand on even ground. Our rights to it are equal–your right, that of possession; mine, the moral and legal right. We will go together to the telegraph bureau. We will each of us telegraph to Mrs. Gordon for permission. She shall decide. Come, is that not sportsmanlike?”

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“Hardly,” I replied, laughing again. “The result would be too much a matter of certainty–for you.”

“Ah, you are determined to be unfair,” he cried angrily.

I hesitated a moment. Then I seized his arm.

“Come along, then,” I said, still laughing, “we will go to your telegraph bureau.”

It seemed the only way to get rid of him; but, I may say, I had no intention of abiding by the decision of Mrs. Gordon.

We entered the bureau. We stood at the desk, and each seized pen and paper. But before the duke had written a line, he had recognized an acquaintance in the street. I must excuse him one moment, and would I await his return so 111that we might compare our telegrams and avoid any misunderstanding?

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