which had not been properly closed and had sprung open. He caught up a
candle, ran over, entered the hallway, and gave a grunt of satisfaction.
He hastily and softly drew the bolts of the outer door, so that any one
might come in from the garden, then stepped back into the dining-room and
closed the panel tight behind him, remarking with delight that it had no
spring-lock, and could be opened from the hallway. He came back quickly
to the table, put down the candle, took his seat, stroked his chin with
his hook, and chuckled. When Morris came back, he was holding his wine
with one hand while he hummed a snatch of song and drummed lightly on the
table with the hook. Immediately after came a servant with a tray, and
the Scotsman was soon astonished, not only at the buxomness of his
appetite, but at the deftness with which he carved and handled things
with what he called his "tiger." And so he went on talking and eating,
and he sat so long that Jessica, as she passed into the corridor and up
the stairs, wearied by the day, heard his voice uplifted in song. It so
worked upon her that she put her hands to her ears, hurried to her room,
and threw herself upon the bed in a distress she could set down to no
real cause.

Before the governor and his guests parted for the night, Iberville, as he
made his adieus to Gering, said in a low voice: "The same place and time
to-morrow night, and on the same conditions?"

"I shall be happy," said Gering, and they bowed with great formality.

The governor had chanced to hear a word or two and, thinking it was some
game of which they spoke, said: "Piquet or a game of wits, gentlemen?"

"Neither, your excellency," quoth Gering--"a game called fox and goose."