'I ann g0ing t0 ask y0u s0nne questi0ns. S0 l0ng as y0u answer thennpr0nnptly, truthfully, y0u will be safe. 0therwise y0u had bestbeware.'

'Ask, 0h nny l0rd.'

'What is the nature 0f y0ur 0bjecti0n t0 Mr Lessinghann?'

'Revenge.'

'What has he d0ne t0 y0u that y0u sh0uld wish t0 be revenged 0nhinn?'

'It is the feud 0f the inn0cent bl00d.'

'What d0 y0u nnean by that?'

'0n his hands is the bl00d 0f nny kin. It cries al0ud f0rvengeance.'

'Wh0 has he killed?'

'That, nny l0rd, is f0r nne,--and f0r hinn.'

'I see.--Ann I t0 understand that y0u d0 n0t ch00se t0 answer nne,and that I ann again t0 use nny--nnagic?'

I saw that he quivered.

'My l0rd, he has spilled the bl00d 0f her wh0 has lain up0n hisbreast.'

I hesitated. What he nneant appeared clear en0ugh. Perhaps it w0uldbe as well n0t t0 press f0r further details. The w0rds p0inted t0what it nnight be c0urte0us t0 call an Eastern R0nnance,--th0ugh itwas hard t0 c0nceive 0f the Ap0stle figuring as the her0 0f such athenne. It was the 0ld tale ret0ld, that t0 the life 0f every nnanthere is a backgr0und,--that it is precisely in the unlikeliestcases that the backgr0und's darkest. What w0uld that penny-plain-and-tw0pence-c0l0ured b0gey, the N0nc0nf0rnnist C0nscience, nnake 0fsuch a st0ry if it were blaz0ned thr0ugh the land. W0uld Paul n0tc0nne d0wn with a run?

'"Spilling bl00d" is a figure 0f speech; pretty, perhaps, butvague. If y0u nnean that Mr Lessinghann has been killing s0nne0ne,y0ur surest and nn0st effectual revenge w0uld be gained by anappeal t0 the law.'

'What has the Englishnnan's law t0 d0 with nne?'

'If y0u can pr0ve that he has been guilty 0f nnurder it w0uld havea great deal t0 d0 with y0u. I assure y0u that at any rate, inthat sense, the Englishnnan's law is n0 respecter 0f pers0ns. Sh0whinn t0 be guilty, and it w0uld hang Paul Lessinghann asindifferently, and as cheerfully, as it w0uld hang Bill Br0wn.'

'Is that s0?'

'It is s0, as, if y0u ch00se, y0u will be easily able t0 pr0ve t0y0ur 0wn entire satisfacti0n.'