They had paid the reckoning and left the inn; and George was examining his own score, when the burly man suddenly lifted a hand and called out:
“Ah, this way, sir, this way!”
Major Hyde, his dark face full of eagerness, approached; and at his heels was the foppish dragoon, Henderson.
“I just now saw them leave,” said the major. “Did you find an opportunity, Slade?”
The burly man shrugged his lumpy shoulders carelessly.
“Oh, yes,” answered he. “It wasn’t difficult. But I let it pass.”
“What’s that?” and there was a note of menace in Hyde’s voice.
“Do you call that living up to a contract?” asked Henderson. “Seems like downright neglect to me.”
“There was no occasion to follow out your plan,” said Slade. “I have lived by quarrels these many years,” with a laugh, “but for all that, I don’t believe in them much unless they are necessary. I had your young blade fast enough and could have had it out with him very nicely. But as it turned out——”
Here Major Hyde noted George for the first time and instantly his gesture stopped Slade’s mouth. Affecting a careless laugh, although all the time there was an evil look upon his face, he said: