“‘Now there are a great many if’s contained in that answer, but let it rain if’s until I return, and I will surmount them all. If my path was sown thick with dragons’ teeth, and at every step producing armed men to oppose me, I would march on to secure my great prize!’
“‘Edward, can you not postpone the time set for you to start to Philadelphia for a few weeks?’
“‘Yes, and will gladly do so, for I must settle the question of the if’s before I go. I must know Mr. Rockland’s mind, as well as Harry’s in regard to our betrothal, before I leave Memphis.’”
CHAPTER X.
“Well,” said Ivanhoe to Scottie, “what was it you wished to say to me?”
“Oh, I was dying of curiosity, you see, and I thought maybe you could save my life by telling me something. I declare, something strange is going to happen; and you must tell me what it is.”
“It would be an easy task to tell you all about it, if I knew anything about it myself; but as I happen to know nothing, how can I tell you anything?”
“Pshaw! You are no true knight, Sir Ivanhoe, else you would not let a lady die of sheer curiosity, without an effort to save her. You are not like the brave knight of Ivanhoe of Sir Walter Scott’s creation.”
“Show me an enemy who fights with steel, face to face, and then you’ll have cause to change your mind. By the by, what discoveries have you made about the black domino?”
“Very little, I assure you—just enough to keep me on the rack. But have you really unearthed no secret respecting the two seedy men?”