"Come, I did not deceive myself, you are a brave man."
"Ah, as to that, is the man whom you seek also strong and brave?"
"Well," said Rutler, after some minutes of reflection, "consider a little the first husband of the widow—a man tall and slender."
"The devil! he was slender, 'tis true; a rod of steel is, also, slender, but that does not prevent its being furiously strong. See here, colonel, that man was made of iron. He was so strong that I have seen him take an insolent negro by the middle and throw him ten feet from him, as if he were an infant, though the black was larger and more robust than you. So, colonel, if the man you seek resembles that one, we would be unwise to bait him—as you say——"
"Less than you believe. I will explain to you——"
"And then," continued John, "if by chance the filibuster, the buccanneer or the cannibal who they say frequently visit the widow, should also be there, it would become somewhat embarrassing."
"Hear me; after what you have told me is there at the end of the park a tree where one could hide?"
"Yes, colonel."
"With the exception of the buccaneer, the filibuster or the cannibal no one enters the private habitation of Blue Beard?"
"No one colonel except the mulattresses who wait upon her."