Part 13 (1/2)
”You men dare to threaten me?”
”Yes, we dare to threaten. You shall not betray us.”
”Aha! I see my conclusions are correct. You are thieves and fear betrayal.”
”We only fear being belied by a rascal like you. We're all gentlemen; we have reputations. We do not desire to rest under a false imputation of being gamblers. Now then you have one chance. Tell us just who you are and your purpose and we may spare you; otherwise--” The man stopped.
”What will you do otherwise?”
”Kill you.”
”See here; you men cannot double-bank me. I am not here to be robbed. I see through this farce. You rascals cannot scare me.”
”Hear!” exclaimed one of the men. ”He is insulting.”
”Yes, he has insulted every one of us. He must fight.”
Oscar laughed and asked:
”Do you wish me to fight the whole gang?”
”Hear him! he denominates us 'the gang'!”
”Certainly, you are a gang of thieves. I can see that I have been inveigled in here. This is a trumped-up charge against me; but I repeat, I defy you. Do your worst.”
”Get the swords,” called Girard.
”Who will fight him?”
”I will,” said the attendant suddenly stepping forward. ”Yes, gentlemen, I will fight him. It is not proper that gentlemen like you should besmirch yourselves by fighting with a low-bred scoundrel like this fellow. I am his match; he belongs to my cla.s.s. He and I will meet on equal terms. I will settle him, gentlemen, and afford you some rich and excellent amus.e.m.e.nt.”
”Henri,” said Girard, ”you are not a swordsman.”
”I will prove to you, my master, that I am swordsman enough to fight this wretch who has forced himself into your presence to act as a spy.
Yes, sir, I will teach him a lesson.”
Oscar could not discern what the real purpose of the men was. It appeared somewhat like a farce to him, and yet their trick was one that has often been played. They could in case of need make out that it was a case of a.s.sault, where one man had sought the life of another. Indeed, there had been several cases of a like character in New York. In one case the men had claimed that a duel had been forced upon another; and again a case had been known where it was made to appear that there had been a murderous a.s.sault, and of course there were plenty of witnesses, and the law is compelled to accept the testimony of unimpeached witnesses. While in both cases alluded to the police were convinced a cold-blooded murder had been committed, they were unable to prove it, however, and the a.s.sa.s.sins went free. Here were four men who could testify as they chose, and the chances were that as far as the courts were concerned they were reputable witnesses. The latter was the game our hero calculated the men meant to work on him. They had deliberately planned his murder, and the chances would have been dead against him but for the little tick-tick, and that singular tick-tick told a wondrous story; but even with this in his favor the chances were against Oscar when he conceived a plan as cunning as the one that was being played against him.
CHAPTER VI.
OSCAR CONCEIVES A PLAN AND A REMARKABLE DENOUEMENT FOLLOWS--COOLNESS AND PLUCK WIN AGAINST SCHEMES AND CUNNING.
Our hero finally decided upon a plan. He determined to convert an impending tragedy into a farce.
The detective smiled when the lackey volunteered to ”do him up,” and said:
”I see you wish a little amus.e.m.e.nt, you fellows. You shall have it. Get the swords. I am a gentleman and I will enjoy slaughtering this ambitious c.o.c.ky-doodle-doo. He wishes to become mincemeat; I will gratify him. Yes, gentleman, get the swords and the fun shall begin.”