"'The hour is earlier than I thought, madam,' I said, 'but perhaps he
has already arrived.'
"And advancing to the side of the lady, I took her arm, drew her toward
the window, and said:--
"'Why not give your friend the signal you have agreed on, madam?'
"At a bound she reached the window, and struck a rapid series of blows
with her fingers upon the pane.
"Five minutes afterward a heavy step was heard ascending the private
staircase. I went to the door and unlocked it; the step
approached--stopped at the door--the door opened, and Mortimer
appeared.
"'Come in, my dear brother-in-law,' I said, 'we are waiting for you.'"
XXIII.
THE RESULT OF THE SIGNAL.
"Mortimer recoiled as if a blow had been suddenly struck at him. His
astonishment was so comic that I began to laugh.
"'Good! you start!' I said. 'You thought I was dead by this time?'
"'Yes,' he coolly replied.
"As he spoke, his hand stole under the cloak in which he was wrapped,
and I heard the click of a pistol as he cocked it. I drew my own
weapon, cocked it in turn, and placing the muzzle upon Mortimer's
breast, said:--
"'Draw your pistol and you are dead!'
"He looked at me with perfect coolness, mingled with a sort of
curiosity. I saw that he was a man of unfaltering courage, and that the
instincts of a gentleman had not entirely left him, soiled as he was
with every crime.
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