“Excuse me, monsieur; but you must comprehend that these questions are necessary on my part — do you not?”

“It would astonish me, my lord, if they were not asked.”

“Now, then, monsieur, what can I do to serve you? What do you wish?”

“This, my lord; — but, in the first place, are we alone?”

“Perfectly so, monsieur, except, of course, the post which guards us.” So saying, Monk pulled open the canvas with his hand, and pointed to the soldier placed at ten paces from the tent, and who, at the first call, could have rendered assistance in a second.

“In that case, my lord,” said the gentleman, in as calm a tone as if he had been for a length of time in habits of intimacy with his interlocutor,