The captain's name was written in characters, as well as all the body of the letter, which Mr. Mandeville did not understand, and which were evidently to be intelligible only to the members of some band of villains, by whom the signs had been adopted as mediums of communication. At the bottom of all was a line to this effect:

"P.S. What will the old man say when he is gone? It will be using him right for the scaly trick he served you so recently; eh!"

What a change the perusal of this doc.u.ment brought about in the mind of Mr.

Mandeville! The softened expression of benevolence, which had lit up his countenance with a glow, left it in a moment. A dark frown settled upon his brow and clouds of blackness over his face.

All his former prejudice against Hadley returned in ten-fold strength; for had he not the most positive proof of his villainy? Not a moment longer waited he for an interview, but with the letter carefully stowed away in a side pocket for future reference and use, he bent his steps back to his house, revolving in his mind how to proceed in the present emergency. That some great scheme of theft and robbery had been planned, with a design to be speedily executed, was evident from the contents of the letter; but where and when the act or acts were to be committed, it was impossible to tell, and consequently, a very difficult matter to decide upon a course of policy likely to thwart the designs of the rogues. After much reflection, Mr. Mandeville concluded it was best to lay the case before the magistrate and take legal advice how to proceed He did so. In a private conference with that functionary, they talked over the matter. The justice was a worthy man and a friend to Hadley, and though the evidence was overwhelming and nearly positive of his guilt, yet he could not find it in his heart to condemn the young man without a hearing, and was equally unable to get the consent of his mind to make the matter public, thereby injuring the reputation of his friend, until he could see and converse with him on the subject. He advised Mr. Mandeville thus:

"I think the best thing we can do is to keep an eye on the movements of this young man, Hadley, as well as upon others who may be a.s.sociated with him, if he is the villain he is here made to appear. If we inst.i.tute proceedings against him, we have only this letter to rely upon, which is not sufficient to convict him, as there is no legible name at the bottom of it, and no witness to corroborate the statements. If he is guilty, premature action will give him all advantages, and enable him to clear himself; whereas, by inst.i.tuting a strict surveillance over his acts, we may be able to get at the truth of the matter, and can then act understandingly in the case."

Mr. Mandeville coincided with the magistrate, and then they agreed to keep the matter strictly to themselves for the present.

"Shall I retain the letter?" inquired the justice.

"No, I wish to use it, first, and will then leave it with you," was the reply--and thus the matter was settled between them.

While the events just related were transpiring, and at the very hour when Mr. Mandeville was consulting the man of law, Duffel was engaged with his two ruffian a.s.sociates in a plot of villainy, which, for deep cunning and calculation, was superior to anything he had yet conceived and carried out, though it was but a link in the chain of criminal acts he had forged out and was about to follow up. The two held their consultation in the tongueless and earless solitude of a dense swamp, where none could hear their words or learn the purport of their schemes and give warning.

"You understand about the horses, do you?" queried Duffel, after he had been explaining some intended operation, in which horses were to be stolen.

"Yes, fully," was the reply.

"Well, the horses will be missed, and, of course, it will be known that _somebody_ has taken them. I have a measure to propose which will throw suspicion on the wrong track and relieve us from any fear of being charged with the theft or even suspected of guilt."

"That's the sort! do the killing and get the halter around some other rascal's neck. Let us hear your proposition, lieutenant."

"You have not forgotten that I mentioned to you in the cave the other evening, that I might need your services in getting rid of a troublesome fellow who was in my way. I did not then expect to need your services so soon, if at all, in this branch of our agreement; but, as the horse business is agreed upon, and as the fellow may possibly be something of a hindrance to my plans of operation in the future, I think this will be a first-rate occasion on which to dispose of him. As I said, somebody will be accused of stealing the horses, and as it is known that you, gentlemen, have recently been in these parts, and as suspicion has long since pointed to you as having had a hand in several transactions held to be unlawful, you will, as a matter of certainty, be designated as the thieves in this instance, unless, by some master-stroke of policy, you can fairly show that you are not guilty. Do you see this?"

"It all looks mighty likely, certain."

"Don't it look more than likely? Don't it look just as if it could not be otherwise?"

"Why, yes; it does look so, that's a fact."

"Of course you would like to cast the blame somewhere else?"

"We would, that's certain."

Well, you can do it. I have already prepared the way, and if you will follow my instructions to the letter, the thing is done?"

"Give us our parts and we will act them to the life," said Bill, who had been spokesman for both, as was usual at such times.

"Ay," said d.i.c.k, "and to the death, too, I guess."

"Quite likely, quite likely!" rejoined Duffel. "Do you think you will have the nerve to perform this extreme act Should it become necessary?"

"Does Lieutenant Duffel take us to be cowards, that he makes such a white-livered insinuation?"

"By no means; I only wished to know if you were _now_ prepared for any emergency that might come up?"

"Yes, any time and always. Go on."

"My plan is this: So soon as the horses are in our possession, we must convey them to the middle of the 'Swamp,' and be back by morning, or noon at furthest, _and show ourselves_. If we are about early, say as soon as possible after the animals are missed, and _take part in the search_, few, if any, will think of us as being the thieves, as they are pleased to term such operators, while we can, at the same time, turn the hunt after the horses in the direction in which they are not to be found, if we can do so without exciting suspicions of our aims. Mark that! we must be cautious and not overdo the thing, or it will be worse for us than to do nothing."

"We understand."

"Well, that is all on that point; but there is something more to be done; we must direct suspicion to some one else; some one must be accused, and _he must not be about_. You comprehend?"

"Perfectly."

"Well, I have the sheep already prepared for the sacrifice."

"Who is he, and where will we find him?"

"_Charles Hadley_ is the man, and you will find him just in the right place--the dark pa.s.sage in the road to C----; he pa.s.ses that point every night about nine or ten o'clock. You know what to do with him."

"Would it not be as well to carry him to the save and imprison him? You know, it would not be murder, then."

"I had thought of that; but if we take him there, it will not do to let him out again, for, if we did, it would be the end of us all; so we should have to both imprison and murder him in the end, which would be much worse than to put him out of the way at once, let alone the risk attending the plan you suggest."

"Right."

"You see, then, we will have some one on whom to lay the theft?"

"Exactly! Huzza for Lieutenant Duffel!"

"Silence!"

"I beg pardon."

"Remember the time, next Thursday night, and don't fail to be at the 'dark pa.s.sage' in time."

"We'll be there, don't fear; and the thing shall be done up handsomely."

"But what's to be done with the feller's body when he's dead, I'd like to know?" interposed d.i.c.k.

"Sure enough," replied Duffel; "I had forgotten to instruct you on that point. Take him to the sink in that black swamp, and be sure to make him _stay under_. We want no tell-tale carca.s.ses showing themselves."

"You need have no fears on that point; once there and he'll never see the light again, nor the light him."

"I will now leave you to make such arrangements between yourselves as may be necessary for the work before you. Leave nothing incomplete, and be punctual to the very minute in every instance."

With this parting injunction, Duffel left his villainous companions, who began at once to prepare themselves for the dastardly business their superior had allotted to them in his schemes of rascality and black-hearted crime. This was Monday, in the afternoon, and consequently, but three days until Hadley was to be waylaid and slain, and immediately afterward somebody's horses stolen and run off, the crime of stealing which was to be laid upon the murdered man. This was a plot worthy of the wretch who conceived it, and, with the aid of villains as unscrupulous as himself, was about to be put in execution.

From the moment the command of the "_Order of the League of Independents_"

(it ought have been named the Order of the League of Murderers and Horse-Thieves) was vested in him, during the captain's absence, he had resolved to make the most of his time and authority to bring all his plans to a crisis and an issue. Hadley was to be disposed of; Mandeville was to be blinded, his daughter, through him, forced to wed the rascal, or, failing in this, _she_ was to be forced into measures, by fair means or foul, of which hereafter.