“Will it be worth fifty dollars to you if I aid you in winning the consent of Major Sampson to wed his daughter?”

“Decidedly.”

“This is also Joe's plan, so you will have to pay him, too.”

“I don't want any money,” put in our hero.

“Joe shall have ten dollars—if your plan wins out. But how is all this to be accomplished?” continued Felix Gussing.

“We will take the earliest possible opportunity to visit Major Sampson,” said Ulmer Montgomery.

“Well?”

“When we are all together, we'll get into some sort of an argument. You shall call me a fool and I'll slap you in the face. Then you shall challenge me to a duel.”

“A duel! Why, sir, I—er—I never could shoot you, and I don't want to be shot myself.”

“My dear Mr. Gussing, you don't understand me. Don't you comprehend, the pistols shall be loaded with powder only.”