hearing, that he had perished by the executioner's steel.

"A death honorable as under the bullets," said Claudius, but half
doubtingly.

As became a man who abhorred homicide in any shape, Daniels made no
reply.

"At the age of eighteen, while at the University, I was given a private
tutor in art and architecture, to which I had a bent. He was a Frenchman
and I acquired his elegant tongue with that well-known facility of us
Poles in attaining proficiency in the Western ones. Armed with that and
Italian--"

"Which you speak with finish," interrupted the Jew.

"I expect my Italian and French tour to be delightful. But I am not over
the frontier yet, and hardly will be soon if my passport is commented
upon by an authority cognizant of this night's adventure."

"I regret to find that it was deliberately planned," resumed Daniels.
"My daughter's virtue has raised more hostility under this roof than
even her talent. The proprietor is a notorious rascal, but he is too
useful to the profligate among the town officials to be reprimanded. The
police, too, wink at his personal misdoings, because he is always their
friend to deliver the criminals who make this haunt their rendezvous.
All those painted women, as well as the waiter-girls, are spies and
Dalilahs who betray the Samsons of crime to the police at any given
moment. That would be neither here nor there, however, if my daughter
and I were allowed to conclude our engagement--which, believe me, would