"What was that?" "Frisco and the Colonel fought a duel. I believe that Frisco came back from the inn drunk and filled with fury against the Colonel. It might have been, that through the visit to Mrs. Marsh in the afternoon he had found out all about the will. The Colonel probably defied him, and then Frisco would suggest a duel. He fired first and the Colonel fell with his still loaded weapon in his hand." "That is all theory," said Bess still defending the ex-sailor, "but you seem to forget Jim that the death shot was fired with that clumsy pistol. If there had been a duel Frisco would have had at least as good a weapon as the Colonel. There are plenty of revolvers of the new pattern in the gun-room. I am sure Frisco would not have placed himself at such a disadvantage. And again the silver bullet. Why should Frisco have used that?" Dr. Jim rubbed his head with a vexed air. "I am afraid you are right Bess," he said, "a duel is out of the question. I can't see anything ahead. So far as I am concerned, I give up trying to solve the riddle." "So do I," said Marsh-Carr, "I know now that my poor mother did not kill the man, so that is all I care about. Let the matter rest Herrick. You can send Santiago to Mexico I suppose?" "Yes, but I think he will want some money." "Give him what he wants and let him go." "I think that will be best, and as for Joyce I'll see that he keeps quiet." Bess struck in. "What about Frisco?" "He must look after himself," said Dr. Jim, "innocent or guilty we can do nothing with him so long as he remains in hiding." "But you can find him?" "Through Joyce. Yes, I can. But on the whole I prefer to let sleeping dogs lie. No, Bess. The whole thing is ended. Now come the peaceful times. It is necessary to cultivate our garden, as says Voltaire." Stephen laughed. "I think so too," said he, "for my part I intend to put the whole matter out of my head and arrange with Ida as to the date of our marriage. As my poor mother has died so lately, we can have a quiet wedding; but married I shall be and as soon as I can." "Why?" asked Bess. "In the first place I want Ida to be my wife because I love her dearly, and in the second I want to marry her and make my will after the marriage in her favour." "Why can't you make it now?" "It would not be legal. Marriage invalidates a will." Herrick who had been thinking, looked up with bright eyes. "Stephen," he said, "you are afraid of Frisco." "Yes, I am. He may try and murder me to get the money, so by marrying Ida and leaving it to her, I shall put the matter out of his power. Once he gets to know that the money has gone from him for ever, he may leave me alone. He tried through Santiago to kill me once, and failed. He may not fail the second time." "There is something in that," said Herrick, and then the council of war--as Bess called it--broke up. The final decision of the three was to let the case stand where it was. They washed their hands of the whole affair.