'Sir, you compel me, against my will, to be more plain with you than I desire. It is your own fault if I give you concern. On opening the coffer you may satisfy yourself of the hand of the writer, which cannot but be familiar to you. Moreover, the letters of the person for whom we are concerned are addressed (that you may not make the error which you apprehend) to one Strephon--not a cant name of a political plot.' 'She called you--Strephon?' 'She was so kind.' 'And I was Corydon,' groaned the Colonel between his teeth. '_Arcades ambo!_' said George. 'But now 'tis the hour of a third shepherd! Lycidas, perhaps, _le plus heureux des trois_. Oh, Colonel, be easy, we are both yesterday's roses, or, rather, I am the rose of the day before yesterday.' 'And it is for this woman--' 'Ay, it is just for this woman that you are to risk your commission, for a risk there may be, and I my life, for I could get away from this place. You perceive that we have no alternative?' 'What must be, must,' he said, after some moments of thought; 'but what if I find the Messengers already in possession of your effects?' 'In that case I must depend solely on your own management and invention. But I may say that gold will do much, nay, everything with such fellows, and your position, moreover, as a trusted officer of your King's, will enable you to satisfy men not very eminent for scruples.' 'Gold! I have not a guinea, thanks to the cards, not a stiver in my rooms to-night. The cards took all.' 'Here, at least,' cried George, 'I can offer some kind of proof of my honesty, and even be of service. I am poor, Heaven knows, but there are my winnings, easily enough to corrupt four Messengers. Use the money; I have friends who will not let me starve in the Tower. Nay, delicacy is purely foolish. I insist that you take it.' 'Mr. Johnson,' the Colonel said, 'you are a very extraordinary man.' 'Sir, I am an Irishman,' said George. 'I will not say that I never met one like you, but I hope, after all accounts are settled between us, to have the advantage of your acquaintance. Sir, _au revoir_.' 'I shall be with you, sir, in ten minutes after your arrival in your lodgings, whether the coast be clear or not. But let me attend you across the Park, as far as the corner of Pall Mall Street.' If Kelly was an Irishman, Montague was an Englishman, and Kelly was well enough acquainted with that nation to know that the last proof given of his disinterestedness was by much the most powerful he could have used. He reflected again on the Devil's own luck of Smilinda that night, for if the cards had gone contrary to her and George he could not have produced this demonstration of his loyalty, nor could he very well have invited the Colonel to pay the piper out of his own pocket. The Colonel also walked silently, turning about in his mind all the aspects of this affair.