Reluctantly they were about to cast lots, when there was the well-known signal heard at the room door, which being opened, Gordon was admitted. ‘Ah!’ exclaimed Blodget, ‘you have just come in time, Gordon; I have a proposition to make to you.’ ‘Name it,’ answered the ruffian. Jenkins repeated the question he had put to the others. Gordon appeared to catch at the idea, and the thieves eagerly awaited his reply, anxious to be released from the perpetration of a crime, from which they all revolted. Gordon did not make any immediate answer, and he appeared to be meditating upon the proposal. ‘Do you also hesitate, Gordon?’ inquired the captain;—‘you were not always so particular.’ ‘I do not hesitate, only for one reason;’ returned the miscreant. ‘Name it!’ said Blodget. ‘Let Blodget give two thousand dollars, and the deed shall be accomplished,’ was the villain’s answer. ‘It shall be yours,’ ejaculated Blodget. ‘Enough!’ said Gordon, ‘I have your word that the money shall be paid, and Jenkins, no doubt, will be answerable that you do not fly from your agreement?’ ‘I will,’ returned the captain. ‘There is no occasion for it,’ observed Blodget, ‘if you do not deceive me, I will not deceive you.’ ‘You had better not,’ said Gordon, with a sinister look. ‘You have good security for my keeping my promise,’ added Blodget; ‘let the deed be done, and the money shall immediately be yours.’ ‘But if I should fail?’ ‘If you do not wilfully fail, then one half the money shall be your reward for your trouble,’ said Blodget. ‘Enough,’ replied Gordon, ‘then the bargain is sealed; I will undertake the hazardous deed.’ ‘Thanks, thanks!’ said the blood-thirsty Blodget; ‘perform your task well, and you will have my eternal gratitude.’ ‘Pshaw!’ cried the ruffian, with a sardonic grin; ‘of what use is gratitude to me? It is not a marketable commodity. But what about the care of Inez?’ ‘Blodget will reside in the house during your absence, and I will leave Joe to assist him in his charge,’ replied the captain. ‘That arrangement will do,’ said Gordon, after a pause. ‘When will you start on your expedition?’ inquired Blodget. ‘Immediately. There is no necessity for delay,’ answered Gordon. ‘’Tis well,’ observed Blodget; ‘but you will go disguised?’ ‘Oh, leave me alone for that,’ returned Gordon. ‘I have more reasons than one not to wish to be known; or the first news that you heard of me would, in all probability be, that I was the inmate of a prison. I will so disguise myself that it must be a penetrating eye, indeed which could recognize me.’ ‘To-morrow, then?’ ‘I quit this place, and make my way for the Mission,’ rejoined Gordon. ‘True; and to meet with success, I trust.’ ‘It shall not be my fault, if I do not.’ ‘You will forward us intelligence when you arrive there; for I shall be all impatience till I hear from you;’ said Blodget. ‘I will,’ replied Gordon, ‘unless I see that there would be any danger in so doing.’ ‘Certainly.’