"I shall have the pleasure of convincing you that my advice will be the best that could possibly be given to a man in your condition."
"The girl is alive, is she?" muttered Jaspar, heedless of the smooth words of his companion.
"Alive and well; and, moreover, is close at hand."
"The devil, she is! And you have been dallying around me all day without opening your mouth."
"But remember, sir, you had another affair on your hands."
"What avail to get that miserable overseer out of the way, when the girl herself is at hand?"
"One thing at a time. That excellent old man, Dr. Franklin, always advised this method. The overseer is safe; now turn we to other matters."
"Well, what shall be done?" said Jaspar, rising suddenly and paying his devoir to the brandy-bottle.
"I will tell you," replied the attorney, rising from his chair and coolly imitating Jaspar's example at the bottle. Then throwing himself lazily upon the sofa—"I will tell you. The case is not desperate yet. How much is the amount of the old colonel's property?"
"How, sir! What mean you?"