"Well," said Rutler, after some minutes of reflection, "consider a little the first husband of the widow--a man tall and slender." "The devil! he was slender, 'tis true; a rod of steel is, also, slender, but that does not prevent its being furiously strong. See here, colonel, that man was made of iron. He was so strong that I have seen him take an insolent negro by the middle and throw him ten feet from him, as if he were an infant, though the black was larger and more robust than you. So, colonel, if the man you seek resembles that one, we would be unwise to bait him--as you say----" "Less than you believe. I will explain to you----" "And then," continued John, "if by chance the filibuster, the buccanneer or the cannibal who they say frequently visit the widow, should also be there, it would become somewhat embarrassing." "Hear me; after what you have told me is there at the end of the park a tree where one could hide?" "Yes, colonel." "With the exception of the buccaneer, the filibuster or the cannibal no one enters the private habitation of Blue Beard?" "No one colonel except the mulattresses who wait upon her." "And except also the man whom I seek, be it remembered; I have my reasons for believing we shall find him there." "Well, colonel?" "Then nothing is simpler; we will hide ourselves in the thickest tree until our man comes to our side." "That cannot fail to occur colonel because the park is not large and when one walks in it he is forced to pass near a marble basin not very far from the place where we shall be hidden." "If our man does not take a walk after night comes, we will wait until he has gone to bed, and we will surprise him there." "This will be easy, colonel, unless he calls one of Blue Beard's comforters to his succor." "Be easy about that; for with your assistance I can place my hand on him and then though he were surrounded by a hundred men armed to the teeth he is mine; I have a sure means of obliging him to obey me; this concerns me. All that I require of you is to conduct me into the ambush from which I can spring upon him suddenly." "This shall be done, colonel." "Then let us be going," said Rutler, rising from the ground. "At your orders, colonel; but instead of walking, we must creep. But let us see," continued John, bending down, "if we can perceive the daylight. Yes, it is there--but how distant it seems. Speaking of that, colonel, if, since I came by this road, it should have been stopped up by a landslide, we should cut, in such a case, a sorry figure! condemned to remain here, and to die of hunger or to eat each other! Impossible to get out by the gulf, seeing that one cannot remount a sheet of water as a trout ascends a cascade." "That is true," said Rutler, "you appal me; happily, there is no likelihood of this. You have the sack?"