“I chose the men who were to kill you. I prepared the weapons that were to shoot you. I watched by your dead body all the time—at least, so I swore. Now he has seen you alive and well. Do you suppose the little dwarf will live long after that? You know his practices on yourself, and I am not half your size. God’s curse upon you.” “Louis,” I said, “I had forgot—” “Forgot what I did for you?” “No, I shall never forget that. You have a right to be angry with me. But I have done it; it cannot be helped. Is there no way I can undo my mistake?” “None.” “Think. There must be.” “There is none.” “Does the patroon remember what happens during his attacks?” “No, it is all a blank.” “Then let me disappear. You can easily make him believe that this meeting existed only in his fevered imagination. I shall go away and not come back.” All this while Louis had been sitting a limp heap at the bottom of the great staircase. Now he rose and stood on the second step, which brought his face almost on a level with mine. “Do you mean that?” he asked, putting both his hands firmly on my shoulders. “Can you really do that?” “I can and I will do it.” “Then why did you come here?” “Why?” “Ah, no, ’twill never do. You could never, never keep yourself away. Besides, I need you here. We have more in common than you think. I need you here. Sit down by me on the step. We must form some other plan.” And another plan we did form, and that most quickly. I proposed it and Louis confirmed my suggestion though, for the moment, I was myself the more doubtful of its success. When the patroon regained consciousness, Louis was to relate my story just as I had told it to Miriam. The patroon’s own recollection of the events was to be attributed to some hallucination during his attack. I had hardly suggested the plan before an objection occurred to me. Could he ever be made to believe all this? Louis, however, combated my fears. He had a bit of information that he had not yet communicated to me. He had chosen the men who were to take part in the attack. They had all come to the meeting place masked, and the patroon had not stopped to ask who his henchman had selected for the task. So, except in the case of Barker, whom he had brought himself, the patroon was ignorant of the men who had helped him. It was impossible, therefore, for him to make inquiries among his men in case he suspected the truth of Louis’s tale. There was still another point in our favor. Miriam had not forgot her promise to me, but her father asked her such shrewd questions as to what had happened that she fully believed I had already told him my adventure. Upon that, with no intention but to emphasize what she supposed I had already said, she talked over all she knew about me. Louis’s account, coming after this, seemed mere corroboration. The dwarf had a cunning tongue, and at last succeeded in allaying all his master’s suspicions. Then I was sent for.