honour's throat," said the Corporal.

And then, having recourse to his iron bar (the reader will now see
why he was provided with such an implement, for he had been
meditating this coup for some days), he proceeded first to attempt
to burst the lock of the little iron chest in which the Count kept
his treasure, and, failing in this, to unscrew it from the ground;
which operation he performed satisfactorily.

"You see, Count," said he, calmly, "when rogues fall out there's the
deuce to pay. You'll have me drummed out of the regiment, will you?
I'm going to leave it of my own accord, look you, and to live like a
gentleman for the rest of my days. Schlafen Sie wohl, noble
Captain: bon repos. The Squire will be with you pretty early in
the morning, to ask for the money you owe him."

With these sarcastic observations Mr. Brock departed; not by the
window, as Mrs. Catherine had done, but by the door, quietly, and so
into the street. And when, the next morning, the doctor came to
visit his patient, he brought with him a story how, at the dead of
night, Mr. Brock had roused the ostler at the stables where the
Captain's horses were kept--had told him that Mrs. Catherine had
poisoned the Count, and had run off with a thousand pounds; and how
he and all lovers of justice ought to scour the country in pursuit
of the criminal. For this end Mr. Brock mounted the Count's best
horse--that very animal on which he had carried away Mrs. Catherine:
and thus, on a single night, Count Maximilian had lost his mistress,
his money, his horse, his corporal, and was very near losing his
life.