“He is not quite so tall, but has a more dignified carriage; and then he does not mingle with us, or participate in any of our amusements, as the real Navarre did. The original Napoleon has also slipped out of his costume, and a counterfeit has slipped in; and the strangest part of the mystery is that no one knows what has become of the parties who originally personated Navarre and Napoleon. Now if this is done in order to enable those men to play a little joke on the ladies, there is no harm in it, but I suspect that some sort of mischief is afloat. I guess it will appear in the wind-up that these two men, and the black domino, are in some way interested in each other; and you may be sure, if they are, that it will produce mischief.” “The truth is, we are all engaged in playing a farce, and I am heartily ashamed of my part of it--it reminds me of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing.’” “I cannot by any means indorse that idea, for I have been very much interested in Ingomar’s story.” “It is too tedious. Give me something lively--something to make me laugh--such as ‘Bill Arp,’ or ‘Artemus Ward,’ ‘Don Quixote,’ or ‘Mark Twain.’” “I prefer love stories. I like to read about women who prefer death to a loveless marriage, and men who are always getting into scrapes in attempting to protect virtue.” “I guess, then, you like the ‘Bride of Lammermoor’ and the ‘Talisman’?” “Yes, and all the other thrilling novels written by Sir Walter Scott.” Don Quixote now came up and joined the king and duke in the conversation, which soon drifted back to the lady in the black domino. “By the by,” exclaimed Don Quixote, “I think that mysterious woman is about to stir up a row between Napoleon and Navarre. The cauldron is boiling and bubbling furiously, and blood is on the face of the moon.” “How do you know that blood is on the moon, when that planet is on the other side of the globe?” “Of course you understand I was speaking metaphorically as to that; but really, I should not be at all surprised to hear of a requisition being made for pistols and coffins for two. To be more explicit, I think a duel is on the tapis.” “Now, sir knight,” said the duke, “if you are in possession of any news that will in any manner relieve our minds about that strange woman, I earnestly beg you to let us hear it at once; for you know what a deluge of curiosity she has manufactured on this boat.”